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ILUNO IS  RAILWAY  LEG  IS 
LA T  I  ON  AND  C    ;iS-Q  ION 

~R^L  SINCE  1 


LI  B  R.AR.Y 

OF  THE 

UNIVERSITY 
OF    ILLINOIS 


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UNIVERSITY    OF   ILLINOIS    BULLETIN 

Vol.  1  MARCH  15,  1904  No.  12 

Published  Fortnightly  by  the  University  and  entered  at  Urbana,  Illinois,  as  second-class  matter 


Vol.  I  MARCH,  1904  No.  6 

Illinois  Railway  Legislation  and  Commission 
Control  Since  1870 

By 

JOSEPH  HINCKLEY  CORDON,  A.  M., 

Instructor  in  History  in  the  Academy  of  the  University  of  Illinois 


Witt  an  Introduction  by  M.  B.  Hammond,  Ph.D., 
Assistant  Professor  of  Economics 


PRICE    25    CENTS 


of  flltnots 


Vol  I  MARCH.  1904  No.  6 


>tubie0 


Illinois  Railway  Legislation  and  Commission 
Control  Since  1870 


By 


JOSEPH  HINCKLEY  CORDON,  A.  M.. 

Instructor  in  History  in  the  Academy  of  the  University  of  Illinois 


With  an  Introduction  by  M.  B.  Hammond.  Ph.D.. 
Assistant  Professor  of  Economics 


<T:lnturrstti>  [J  ITU'S 
SErtana 


4* .  UJUA/V^, 


NOTE. 

During  the  year  1900-'01  the  advanced  students  in  the  Eco- 
nomic Seminary  devoted  themselves  to  a  study  of  the  railroad 
development  of  Illinois,  under  the  direction  of  Professor  M.  B. 
Hammond,  who  was  in  charge  of  the  department  during  my 
absence  in  Europe.  In  addition  to  other  excellent  work  done, 
the  essay  here  published  was  written  by  Mr.  Gordon,  under 
Professor  Hammond's  direction.  The  history  of  railroad  legisla- 
tion before  1870  was  also  written  up,  but  is  not  at  present  avail- 
able for  publication.  Accordingly,  Professor  Hammond  has  kind- 
ly written  an  introduction  to  the  present  essay,  covering  the 
ground  before  1870.  This  introductory  historical  sketch  is 
drawn  chiefly  from  the  results  of  the  labors  of  the  students  who 
were  at  work  under  Professor  Hammond.  Mr.  Gordon  has  re- 
cently revised  his  essay  with  Professor  Hammond's  assistance. 

DAVID  KINLEY, 
Professor  of  Economics. 


CONTENTS. 


INTRODUCTION  :     Railway  Legislation  Before  1870. 

SECTION  I.  Railway  Conditions  in  1870  and  the  Constitu- 

tional Provisions  Concerning  Railroads. 

SECTION  II.  The  Restrictive  Legislation  of  1871  and  the  Work 

of  the  First  Commission. 

SECTION  III.        Litigation  over  the  Enforcement  of  the  Law. 

SECTION  IV.  The  Law  of  1873  and  the  Powers  of  the  Commis- 
sion as  Modified  by  It. 

SECTION  V.  The  Schedule  of  Maximum  Rates. 

SECTION  VI.         The  Final  Struggle  in  the  Courts. 

SECTION  VII.       General  Legislation  and  Litigation. 

SECTION  VIII.      Railway  Construction  and  Consolidation. 

SECTION  IX.         Later  Work  of  the  Commission. 

SECTION  X.  Conclusion. 


INTRODUCTION. 
RAILWAY  LEGISLATION  BEFORE  1870. 

To  the  student  of  transportation  problems  the  railway  his- 
tory of  Illinois  possesses  an  interest  hardly  equalled  by  that  of 
any  of  her  sister  states.  This  is  not  because  of  the  magnitude 
of  the  railway  interests,  though  ever  since  1870  the  railway 
mileage  of  Illinois  has  exceeded  that  of  any  other  state  of  the 
Union  and  her  chief  city  has  long  been  known  as  the  railway 
capital  of  the  world.  Nor  is  it  because  of  their  antiquity  that 
we  feel  an  especial  interest  in  Illinois  railroads.  Although  this 
state  was  the  pioneer  among  western  states  in  railway  building, 
and  although  both  private  and  public  agitation  in  favor  of  rail- 
roads began  in  Illinois  almost  as  soon  as  in  the  East,  most  of 
the  eastern  commonwealths  had  already  made  a  respectable 
showing  in  railway  construction  before  the  western  agitation 
had  attained  any  tangible  results. 

Our  interest  in  Illinois  railway  problems  lies  rather  in 
their  legislative  aspects.  This  state,  after  having  experimented 
unsuccessfully  with  public  ownership  and  management  of  rail- 
roads, abandoned  the  plan  and,  like  most  of  her  sister  states, 
went  to  the  other  extreme  and  placed  matters  of  construction 
and  operation  entirely  in  private  hands.  Not  appreciating  the 
fact  that  they  were  dealing  with  an  institution  whose  relation 
to  private  industry  and  public  welfare  was  essentially  different 
from  that  of  other  industrial  undertakings,  the  people  of  Illi- 
nois at  succsssive  sessions  of  the  legislative  assembly  freely 
granted  charters  of  incorporation  to  railway  companies,  and 
made  little  effort  to  place  on  the  powers  conferred  such  limita- 
tions as  were  necessary  to  safeguard  the  agricultural,  manufac- 
turing and  trading  interests  of  the  state.  The  mistakes  in  this 
policy  soon  made  themselves  felt  in  the  so-called  "  Granger  " 

[213] 


6 

agitation.  After  a  bitter  struggle  in  the  courts  and  the  legis- 
lature, the  right  of  the  state  to  regulate  and  control  its  railway 
corporations  was  secured  beyond  a  reasonable  doubt.  It  was 
in  this  struggle  for  control  that  Illinois  led  the  way.  The 
McLean  County  case,  the  Neal  Buggies  case,  the  case  of  The  Peo- 
ple v.  The  Illinois  Central  Railroad  Company,  and,  above  all,  the 
case  of  Munn  'v.  Illinois,  established  the  right  of  the  state  legis- 
lature under  the  Illinois  Constitution  of  1870  to  regulate  the 
charges  for  railway  transportation  within  the  state,  and,  f  ur- 
thermore,fully  demonstrated  the  public  character  of  the  railway 
business.  As  is  well  known,  these  decisions  had  more  than  a 
local  bearing.  They  became  the  precedents  for  decisions  in 
similar  cases  arising  in  other  states  and  they  mark  a  new 
era  in  American  railway  affairsj 

Nor  was  this  the  only  way  in  which  Illinois  did  pioneer 
work  in  railway  legislation.  She  was  the  first  state  to  estab- 
lish a  railway  commission  having  the  power  of  regulation  and 
control  in  its  own  hands, — often  called  the  "strong"  commis- 
sion, or  the  "commission  with  power".  This,  too,  was  an  out- 
come of  the  Granger  agitation  and  is  closely  connected  with 
the  decisions  of  the  courts  just  referred  to,  which  settled  the 
right  of  the  legislature  to  control  the  roads  through  such  a 
commission.  The  question  as  to  whether  this  type  of  a  com- 
mission is  preferable  to  the  "advisory"  type  found  in  Massa- 
chusetts and  other  states  has  been  ably  discussed  by  various 
writers,  who  have  not  all  reached  the  kame  conclusions.  In  Il- 
linois, at  the  time  the  Railroad  and  Warehouse  Commission 
was  established,  there  was  little  discussion  of  the  merits  of  one 
type  as  compared  with  those  of  the  other.  The  condition  of  the 
public  mind,  which  had  been  wrought  up  to  a  state  of  excite- 
ment and  fury  by  the  persistence  of  extortionate  charges  and 
unjust  discriminations  by  the  roads  of  the  state,  was  not  such 
that  the  people  could  be  satisfied  by  mere  advice.  An  effort 
was  made  to  go  directly  to  the  heart  of  the  difficulty  by  means 
of  legislative  prohibitions  and  by  entrusting  such  powers  to  a 

[214] 


commission  as  were  deemed  essential  to  secure  the  enforcer 
ment  of  the  laws.  Perhaps  the  wisdom  of  this  move,  under 
the  existing  circumstances,  has  nowhere  been  better  demon- 
strated than  by  the  experience  of  the  state  of  Iowa,  which, 
when  confronted  with  similar  problems,  first  experimented 
with  the  advisory  commission  and  later  abandoned  it  to  estab- 
lish a  "strong"  commission  modeled  after  that  of  Illinois.1 

In  this  brief  outline  we  have  attempted  to  show  the  bear- 
ing of  the  Illinois  railway  problem  of  the  '70's  on  the  railway 
problem  of  the  country  at  large.  The  way  in  which  the  people 
of  Illinois  solved  their  own  problem  forms  the  subject  of  Mr. 
Gordon's  paper,  and  it  would  be  a  waste  of  words  to  attempt 
further  to  elucidate  that  which  he  has  so  clearly  presented.  In 
order  to  give  this  interesting  episode  its  proper  historical  set- 
ting, it  may  be  well,  however,  to  present  to  the  reader  a  short 
sketch  of  the  early  history  of  railway  construction  and  legisla- 
tion in  Illinois. 

As  already  suggested,  a  movement  in  favor  of  the  con- 
struction of  railroads  in  Illinois  began  as  early  as  February, 
1829,  when  Governor  Coles  of  this  State  wrote  to  Governor 
Bernard  of  New  York  concerning  internal  improvements  and 
among  other  things,  inquired  as  to  the  probable  expense  of 
constructing  a  railroad  through  the  open  prairies  of  Illinois. 
At  about  the  same  time  the  editor  of  the  Illinois  Magazine, 
published  at  Vandalia,  was  advocating  the  building  of  railroads 
in  Illinois.2  By  1831  the  matter  was  before  the  legislature  and 
that  body  appointed  a  commission  to  report  on  the  "practi- 
cability and  probable  cost  of  constructing  a  canal  or  railroad" 
in  St.  Glair  county.  The  lack  of  an  efficient  means  of  trans- 
portation was  sorely  felt  by  the  early  settlers  in  Illinois,  whose 
only  highways  were  the  muddy  "dirt"  roads  which  still  em- 
barrass the  Illinois  farmer  in  his  efforts  to  market  his  crops. 

1  For  an  account  of  the  Iowa  experience,  see  Dixon's  State  Railroad  Control, 
with  a  History  of  its  Development  in  Iowa. 

2  Illinois  Magazine,  1,  85. 

[215] 


8 

The  experiments  being  made  with  steam  railroads  in  New 
York,  Pennsylvania,  Maryland  and  South  Carolina  at  about 
this  time  were  eagerly  watched  by  the  Illinois  farmers,  and  it  is 
not  surprising  that  many  of  them  believed  that  the  new  device 
for  transportation  offered  them  a  means  of  escape  from  their 
own  difficulties. 

For  several  years,  however,beginningwith  I831,a  keen  con- 
troversy took  place  both  within  and  without  the  legislature  be- 
tween the  friends  of  the  railroads  and  those  who  favored  canals. 
The  railway  advocates  certainly  presented  the  stronger  argu- 
ments1 but,  on  the  other  hand,  railway  building  was  as  yet 
in  the  experimental  stage,  while  the  success  of  the  Erie  Canal 
created  a  strong  bias  in  favor  of  water  as  a  means  of  transpor- 
tation; and  finally,  in  the  legislative  session  of  1834-'35,  the 
supporters  of  the  Illinois-Michigan  Canal  triumphed  over  their 
railway  opponents.  But,  although  the  canal  project  undoubt- 
edly had  popular  support  at  this  time,  the  desire  for  railroads 
still  remained  strong  with  the  people.  The  same  session  of  the 
legislature  which  adopted  the  canal  project  also  passed  the 
first  railway  incorporation  act.  This  provided  for  the  construc- 
tion of  a  railroad  from  Chicago  to  a  point  on  the  Wabash  river 
opposite  Vincennes,  Indiana.  No  organization  was  effected 
under  this  charter  and  the  road  was  never  built.  The  first  rail- 
road actually  constructed  in  this  state  was  a  private  enterprise, 
unincorporated,  undertaken  by  Ex-Governor  Reynolds  in  1836- 
'37.  It  was  a  coal  road,  six  miles  in  length,  built  from  the  bluffs 
in  St.  Clair  county  to  the  Mississippi  river  at  a  point  about  op- 
posite St.  Louis.  In  character  and  purpose  this  road  was  similar  to 
the  coal  and  granite  tramways  built  in  Massachusetts,  Pennsyl- 
vania and  other  states,  as  well  as  in  England,  and,  except  as  it 
marks  a  beginning,  its  consideration  hardly  belongs  to  railway 
history.  The  road  was  at  first  built  with  wooden  rails,  and 
horse  power  was  the  motive  power,  though  later  steam  was 


i  Senate  Journal,  i832-'33,  p.  218. 

[216] 


9 

employed.1  This  road  was  finally  incorporated  and  is  now  a 
part  of  the  Louisville,  Evansville,  and  St.  Louis  Railroad.  The 
Chicago  and  Galena  Union  Railroad,  which  was  chartered  Jan- 
uary 16,  1836,  was  the  first  road  to  be  chartered  by  an  Illinois 
legislature  which  was  actually  constructed  and  put  in  operation 
under  its  charter.  The  survey  of  this  road  was  begun  in  1838, 
but  the  financial  stringency  following  the  crisis  of  1837  delayed 
construction,  and  the  road  did  not  begin  operation  until  near 
the  close  of  1848.  This  road  later  came  under  the  control  of 
the  Illinois  Central  Railroad  and  now  forms  a  part  of  its 
western  lines. 

From  1836  on,  the  incorporation  of  railroad  companies  in 
Illinois  proceeded  with  some  rapidity.  Not  only  the  incorpo- 
rators  but  likewise  the  people  and  their  representatives  in  the 
legislature  expected  large  profits  to  be  realized  by  these  com- 
panies. Attempts  were  made  in  several  of  the  early  charters 
to  guard  against  excessive  profits.  A  notable  example  is  the  first 
act  of  incorporation  of  the  Illinois  Central  Railroad,  which  pro- 
vided that  when  the  dividends  exceeded  12  per  cent,  on  the  in- 
vestment, the  legislature  might  reduce  the  tolls.  This  marks 
the  first  attempt  at  restrictive  legislation. 

By  far  the  most  interesting  chapter  in  the  early  history  of 
Illinois  railroads  is  that  which  deals  with  the  effort  of  the  peo- 
ple to  establish  a  system  of  railroads  owned  and  managed 
directly  by  the  state.  This  was  a  part  of  the  great  internal 
improvement  plan  of  1837.  Like  many  of  her  sister  states  Illi- 
nois was  siezed  with  the  internal  improvement  mania  which 
possessed  the  people  of  the  United  States  during  the  '80's- 
This  is  not  the  place  to  enter  into  a  discussion  of  the  forces 
which  caused  this  remarkable  movement.  As  historians  have 
frequently  pointed  out,  it  was  due,  in  part,  to  the  growth  of  a 
surplus  in  the  national  treasury  and  its  distribution  in  1837, 
and,  in  part,  to  bank  and  land  speculation  then  rife  in  all  the 

i  Niles  Register,  November  25, 1837.     See  also  Reynolds,  My  Own  Times. 

[217] 


10 

southern  and  western  states.  In  Illinois  the  movement  culmi- 
nated in  the  internal  improvement  convention  of  1836- 
'37,  and  this  resulted  in  the  passage  through  the  legislature  of 
the  act  of  February.  27,  1837,  entitled,  "An  act  to  establish 
and  maintain  a  general  system  of  internal  improvements". 
This  act  provided  for  seven  commissioners  to  superintend  the 
construction  of  certain  specified  public  improvements,  whose 
estimated  cost  was  $11,000,000.  These  expenditures,  for  which 
a  state  loan  of  $8,000,000  was  authorized,  were,  in  part,  for  the 
improvement  of  the  chief  rivers  of  the  state  and,  in  part,  for 
the  improvement  of  roads  and  bridges  in  those  counties  where 
no  railroads  were  projected;  but  all  but  $600,000  of  the  amount 
was  for  the  purpose  of  constructing  nine  different  railroads. 
This  ambitious  program,  which  was  entirely  beyond  the  re- 
sources and  credit  of  Illinois  at  the  time,  was  hastily  passed 
in  spite  of  the  protests  of  conservative  men  within  and  without 
the  legislature.  Almost  from  the  first,  the  impossibility  of  ex- 
ecuting the  plan  was  realized.  Eastern  capital  would  not  enter 
the  undertaking,  as  had  been  confidently  predicted,  and  within 
three  years  after  the  passage  of  the  act  a  special  session  of  the 
legislature,  called  for  the  purpose,  had  repealed  it.  The  only 
part  of  this  stupendous  undertaking  which  was  ever  completed 
was  the  construction  of  the  Northern  Cross  Railroad  from 
Springfield  to  Meredosia  on  the  Illinois  river,  33£  miles  beyond 
Jacksonville.  The  first  eight  miles  of  the  road,  from  Meredosia 
east,  were  opened  in  November,  1838,  and  the  first  locomotive 
ever  used  in  the  Mississippi  Valley  was  then  employed.  The 
road  was  completed  as  far  as  Jacksonville  by  January  1,  1840, 
and  to  Springfield  by  May  13,  1842.  It  had  cost  $1,000,000.  Its 
administration  by  the  state  was  at  a  loss  and  it  was  soon  sold 
for  $100,000.  None  of  its  successive  lessees  succeeded  in  mak- 
ing it  pay  and  by  1843  it  had  been  abandoned.  Prior  to  this,  its 
one  locomotive  had  been  upset  in  a  swamp  and  mules  driven 
tandem  had  taken  its  place.  In  1847  the  road  was  again  sold, 


[2I8J 


11 

this  time  for  $21,000,  and  was  re-opened  for  traffic  in  1849.  It 
now  forms  a  part  of  the  Wabash  Railway  system. 

The  internal  improvement  plan,  after  having  saddled  a 
debt  of  $6,000,000  on  the  state,  was  reluctantly  abandoned. 
Many  people  continued  to  hope  that  later  years  might  see  a  re- 
newal of  the  attempt  to  create  a  transportation  system  owned 
and  managed  by  the  state.  The  surveyed  and  unfinished  por- 
tions of  the  state  roads  were  granted  to  the  local  divisions  of 
government  through  which  they  ran,  with  the  proviso  always 
inserted  in  the  grant  that  the  state  might  resume  control 
whenever  it  desired  to  use  them  for  their  original  purposes. 

After  the  internal  improvement  plan  had  been  abandoned, 
the  legislature  reverted  to  the  plan  of  granting  charters  to  pri- 
vate companies.  Under  the  early  railway  charters  but  little 
had  been  accomplished.  According  to  unofficial  statistics,1 
there  were  as  late  as  1852  only  ninety-five  miles  of  railroad  in 
operation  in  the  entire  state.  The  roads  which  were  now 
chartered  were,  in  many  instances,  planned  to  complete  por- 
tions of  the  state  roads  begun  under  the  act  of  1837.  The  re- 
luctance of  the  people  to  give  up  the  plan  of  state  ownership 
and  management  of  these  roads  is  seen  in  the  proviso,  usually 
inserted  in  the  charters,  that  the  state  may  purchase  the  road 
after  a  specified  number  of  years  by  paying  to  the  company  the 
cost  of  the  road  together  with  interest  thereon. 

Professor  B.  H.  Meyer,  in  tracing  the  history  of  the  rail- 
way legislation  of  this  period  for  the  country  as  a  whole,  has 
shown  that  in  all  the  western  states,  at  least,  these  early 
charters  were  loosely  drawn  and  that  they  show  little  compre- 
hension on  the  part  of  the  legislators  of  the  public  nature  of 
the  railway  industry,  or  of  the  serious  difficulties  which  were 
sure  to  follow  as  a  result  of  the  failure  clearly  to  define  the 
mutual  rights  and  obligations  of  the  corporations  and  the  com- 
monwealths.2 In  this  respect  the  state  of  Illinois  presented 

I  Chicago  Daily  Press,  Feb.  16,  1856.     But  see  p.  18. 

2 Meyer,  Railway  Legislation  in  the  United  States,  8-9.  . 

[219] 


12 

no  exception  to  the  general  rule.  In  matters  pertaining  to 
capitalization,  increase  of  stock,  indebtedness,  the  accumula- 
tion of  a  sinking  fund,  and  even  in  the  determination  of  the 
route  and  the  fixing  of  terminals,  there  was  the  utmost  loose- 
ness and  lack  of  uniformity.  The  early  charters  almost  invari- 
ably conferred  upon  the  directors  unlimited  power  to  fix  the 
rates  of  toll,  and  this  provision  later  proved  embarrassing  when 
the  state  undertook  to  regulate  the  charges  for  transportation. 
Relying  upon  the  decision  of  the  Federal  Supreme  Court  in  the 
Dartmouth  College  case  as  proof  of  the  inviolability  of  their 
charters,  the  railway  owners  and  officials  insisted  that  any  at- 
tempt on  the  part  of  the  legislature  to  interfere  with  their  rate- 
making  power  was  a  clear  violation  of  their  contract.  In  spite 
of  the  fact  that  a  general  incorporation  act  was  passed  by  the 
Illinois  legislature  in  1849,  the  practice  of  granting  special 
charters  continued,  and  no  road  was  actually  incorporated 
under  a  general  law  until  after  1870.  The  reason  for  neglect- 
ing to  take  advantage  of  the  general  incorporation  act  of  1849 
seems  to  have  been  that  any  road  organized  under  its  provisions 
must  still  obtain  from  the  legislature  specific  permission  to 
condemn  land,  thus  necessitating  a  special  act  for  each  road. 
Furthermore,  the  act  of  1849  fixed  the  maximum  rate  for  trans- 
porting passengers  at  three  cents  a  mile. 

During  the  years  from  1848  to  1854  railway  building  in 
Illinois  was  greatly  hampered  by  the  attitude  of  the  legislature 
in  upholding  what  was  known  as  the  "State  policy"  in  matters 
of  railway  construction.  This  policy  was  to  refuse  to  charter 
any  east  and  west  road  whose  proposed  terminals  were  trading 
centres  outside  of  the  state.  The  object  was  to  build  up  com- 
mercial centres  within  the  state  and  the  policy  was  directed,  in 
particular,  against  the  cities  of  St.  Louis,  Missouri,  and  Vin- 
cennes  and  Terre  Haute,  Indiana.  The  pursuance  of  this  short- 
sighted policy  not  only  hindered  the  flow  of  capital  into  the 
state  and  retarded  the  industrial  and  commercial  development 
of  certain  sections,  but  it  caused  retaliatory  measures  to  be 

[220J 


13 

adopted  by  neighboring  states.  The  policy  met  with  especi- 
ally strong  opposition  from  the  residents  of  the  southern  part 
0f  the  state  and  several  conventions  were  called  to  protest 
against  its  continuance.  Two  special  sessions  of  the  legislature 
were  called  to  deal  with  the  matter,  but  so  strong  was  the  in- 
fluence exerted  by  the  supporters  of  this  plan  that  it  was  not 
until  1854  that  a  more  liberal  policy  prevailed. 

In  spite  of  this  policy,  however,  railway  building  in  Illinois 
in  the  early  '50's  proceeded  with  unparalleled  rapidity.  As 
already  indicated,  there  were  in  1852  only  95  miles  of  railroad 
in  operation  in  the  state.  By  February  16,  1856,  there  were 
2410  miles  in  operation.1  Of  this  amount  only  about  three 
hundred  miles  were  in  the  southern  part  of  the  state.  From 
1835  to  1869,  inclusive,  413  railway  charters  were  granted  by 
the  Illinois  legislature  and  the  great  majority  of  these  were 
framed  after  1854. 

Of  the  railway  building  of  this  period,  by  far  the  most  not- 
able undertaking  was  that  of  the  Illinois  Central  Railroad. 
This  enterprise  has  an  importance  not  confined  to  the  state  of 
Illinois,  since  it  marks  the  first  important  step  in  the  policy  of 
securing  Congressional  land  grants  in  aid  of  railroads.  Small 
beginnings  of  this  policy  had  already  been  made  in  Illinois,  as 
well  as  in  other  states.  In  1835  an  act  of  Congress  authorized 
the  legislature  of  Illinois,  if  it  saw  fit,  to  use  the  land  granted 
in  1827  to  aid  in  the  construction  of  the  Illinois-Michigan 
Canal  for  a  railroad  instead  of  a  canal.  Small  grants  of  land 
had  also  been  made  by  Congress  to  several  southern  states  in 
aid  of  railway  construction.  Although  several  citizens  have 
claimed  the  credit  of  having  originated  the  Illinois  Central 
railway  project,  the  credit  for  having  pushed  the  land  grant 
through  Congress  undoubtedly  belongs  to  Stephen  A.  Douglas. 
The  desire  to  have  a  north  and  south  line  running  the  full 
length  of  the  state  had  long  been  a  pet  scheme  of  the  people 
of  Illinois.  The  internal  improvement  plan  of  1837  had 

I  Chicago  Daily  Press,  February  16,  1836.     See  also  p.  18. 

[221] 


14 

this  as  its  main  item  and,  after  the  failure  of  that  ambitious 
program,  another  attempt  was  made  in  1843  to  provide  for  such 
a  line  by  chartering  the  Great  Western  Railroad  Company. 
Private  capital,  unaided  by  government  subsidies,  appeared 
unwilling,  however,  to  undertake  the  project  and,  beginning 
with  1848,  Douglas  worked  unremittingly  to  secure  Congres- 
sional aid  for  the  road.  Finally,  on  September  26,  1850,  Con- 
gress passed  the  act  which  gave  to  the  State  of  Illinois  the 
right  of  way  250  feet  in  width  through  the  public  lands  and 
also  the  alternate  sections  of  land,  six  sections  deep,  along  the 
proposed  route, — an  amount  of  land  aggregating  nearly  2,600,000 
acres.  The  Illinois  Central  Railroad  Company  was  incorpo- 
rated in  January,1851,for  the  purpose  of  building  the  road,  and 
the  lands  granted  by  Congress  to  the  state  were  conferred  on 
the  company  in  return  for  a  promise  on  its  part  to  pay  annu- 
ally a  tax  of  seven  per  cent,  of  its  gross  earnings  into  the 
State  Treasury.  This  was  to  be  in  lieu  of  all  other  state  and 
local  taxes.  The  company  which  received  the  charter  and  the 
land  grant  was  composed  of  New  York  and  Boston  capitalists 
of  high  financial  reputation  but  the  capital  for  the  enterprise 
came,  for  the  most  part,  from  England.  The  bill  incorporating 
the  company  was  hastily  passed  by  the  legislature  and  was  in 
opposition  to  the  wishes  of  many  who  believed  that  the  state 
should  have  retained  the  title  to  the  lands  and  should  have 
constructed  and  operated  the  railroad.  Without  discussing  in 
this  place  the  relative  merits  of  the  two  plans,  or  seeking  to 
justify  the  general  principle  of  governmental  subsidies  in  aid 
of  private  railway  corporations,  it  may  be  said  in  all  fairness, 
that  in  this  case  the  Congressional  land  grant  proved  advan- 
tageous to  all  parties  concerned.  By  withholding  from  the 
market  for  two  years  the  sections  of  land  not  granted  along 
the  right  of  way,  the  Federal  Government  was  able  to  dispose  of 
these  lands  at  an  average  price  four  times  as  large  as  that  at 
which  they  were  offered  prior  to  making  the  grant.  It  also 
fixed  the  compensation  for  carrying  the  mails  over  the  road 
and  reserved  the  right  to  transport  its  troops  and  munitions  of 

[2221 


15 

war  free  of  cost.  To  the  state  of  Illinois  the  land  grant  and 
the  building  of  the  railroad  added  150,000  in  population  within 
a  very  few  years  and  the  development  of  the  state's  resources 
was  greatly  hastened.  Furthermore,  the  contract  for  the  pay- 
ment of  the  gross  earnings  tax  has  proved  very  advantageous 
to  the  state,  and,  judging  from  the  market  price  of  its  stock, 
has  not  seriously  affected  the  prosperity  of  the  company. 

Several  other  attempts  were  made  to  secure  Congressional 
aid  for  Illinois  railroads  between  1837  and  1854,  but  they 
proved  fruitless. 

The  financial  disasters  resulting  from  the  failure  of  the  in- 
ternal improvement  plan  of  1837  led  the  framers  of  the  Consti- 
tution of  1848  to  insert  a  clause  in  that  instrument,  forbidding 
the  General  Assembly  to  give  the  credit  of  the  state  in 
any  manner  in  aid  of  any  individual,  association  or  corporation. 
The  people  were  soon  convinced,  however,  that  public  aid  of 
some  sort  was  necessary,  if  railway  building  was  to  proceed 
rapidly.  The  state  government  being  estopped  from  giving 
direct  aid,  the  people  turned  to  the  local  sub-divisions.  In  1849 
the  legislature,  in  an  amendment  to  the  general  incorporation 
act,  provided  that  any  county  might,  upon  vote  of  its  citizens, 
subscribe  for  shares  in  the  capital  stock  of  any  such  corpora- 
tion to  an  amount  not  exceeding  one  hundred  thousand  dollars. 
Later  acts  extended  the  power  to  boards  of  supervisors,  where 
the  township  organization  prevailed,  and  to  councils  of  munic- 
ipalities. An  attempt  to  increase  this  power  of  the  local  gov- 
ernments to  aid  railroads  was  made  in  1869  by  the  passage  of 
the  so-called  "tax-grabbing"  law.  The  features  of  this  law 
and  the  results  of  its  passage  are  described  in  subsequent 
pages.  We  need  here  only  to  mention  the  fact  that  the  en- 
couragement which  these  laws  afforded  to  counties,  townships 
and  municipalities  to  bond  themselves  in  aid  of  railroads  led  to 
the  adoption  of  many  hastily-passed  and  ill-considered  meas- 
ures for  furnishing  financial  aid  to  various  companies.  In  some 
instances  the  aid  thus  rendered  proved  of  advantage  to  all 
concerned,  but  in  other  cases  it  simply  resulted  in  saddling  a 

[223] 


16 
•  - 
heavy  debt  upon  the  local  governments  without  yielding  any 

corresponding  benefit  whatever. 

There  remains  for  brief  consideration  in  this  introductory 
chapter  the  early  attempts  on  the  part  of  the  state  to  regulate 
the  rates  of  toll  upon  the  railroads,  in  order  to  prevent  extor- 
tionate charges  and  discriminations.  Until  1849  complaints  of 
this  character  were  infrequent,  but  about  that  time  it  began  to 
be  charged  that  the  railroads  were  not  only  making  extortion- 
ate charges  for  transportation,  but  that  they  were,  in  this  way, 
making  profits  in  excess  of  those  in  other  industries.  The 
Committee  on  Internal  Improvements  in  its  report  to  the  legis- 
lature in  1849  recommended  the  establishment  of  maximum 
rates  in  every  charter  to  be  granted  in  the  future.  This  recom- 
mendation found  approval  in  the  general  incorporation  act  of 
that  year  which  fixed  the  maximum  passenger  rates  on  roads 
chartered  under  its  provisions  to  three  cents  a  mile.  The  act 
further  provided  that  for  roads  already  chartered  the  legisla- 
ture might  alter  the  tolls,  provided  such  alterations  did  not  re- 
duce the  profits,  to  less  than  fifteen  per  cent  of  the  capital 
stock.  The  roads  protested  against  the  operation  of  this  sec- 
tion, claiming  it  to  be  a  violation  of  their  charter  contracts, 
and  the  people  began  to  realize  the  difficulties  of  rate  regula- 
tion which  the  loosely  drawn  charters  had  imposed  on  them. 
However,  the  demand  for  legislative  action  to  control  the  rate- 
making  power  of  the  roads  continued  to  grow  louder  and  more 
emphatic  throughout  the  two  succeeding  decades.  This  pro- 
duced some  effect  in  the  requirement,  inserted  in  some  of  the 
charters  granted,  that  the  roads  should  establish  and  maintain 
a  schedule  of  uniform  rates  for  both  passengers  and  freight. 
Meanwhile  railway  consolidation  which  had  been  proceeding 
with  great  rapidity  during  the  '50's  and  '60's  was  causing  alarm 
and  was  being  denounced  as  being  "in  restraint  of  trade."  So 
great,indeed,  was  the  fear  of  monopolistic  power  being  secured 
in  this  way,  that  in  the  Constitution  of  1870  a  clause  was  in- 
serted forbidding  the  consolidation  of  parallel  or  competing 
lines.  Public  opinion  seemed  to  be  divided,  however,  as  to  the 

[224] 


17 

right  of  the  legislature  to  modify  the  rates  of  toll  on  the  roads 
already  chartered,  and  between  1858  and  1869  every  attempt  to 
pass  a  general  law  fixing  rates  or  for  the  prevention  of  dis- 
criminations failed  of  passage  in  the  legislature.  The  first 
general  law  of  this  character  was  not  passed  until  March  10, 
1869.  It  limited  the  charges  OK  the  roads  of  the  state  to 
"reasonable  rates,"  but  did  not  attempt  to  define  what  was 
reasonable.  On  the  other  hand,  the  law  stated:  "That  the 
company  shall  fix  a  reasonable  and  uniform  rate  of  tolls  does 
not  mean  that  one  road  shall  charge  the  same  as  any  other 
road,  or  that  the  same  rate  for  different  roads  is  required." 
The  act  thus  cautiously  worded  proved  ineffective,  and  no  at- 
tention whatever  was  paid  to  its  provisions  by  any  road  in  the 
state.  The  real  struggle  for  securing  effective  public  control 
over  the  railroads  in  Illinois  began  in  the  Constitutional  Con- 
vention of  1870. 

The  railway  history  of  Illinois  may  thus  conveniently 
be  divided  into  five  periods,  each  period  having  its  own  peculiar 
characteristics. 

The  first  period  (1829-1836)  is  one  of  agitation,  having  no 
practical  results  other  than  the  construction  of  a  few  unimport- 
ant tramways  and  the  chartering  of  several  roads  which  were 
either  not  built,  or  whose  construction  was  postponed  until 
later  years.  In  this  period  the  building  of  canals  aroused  more 
enthusiasm  than  did  railway  projects. 

The  second  period  (1837-1839)  witnesses  the  effort  of  the 
state  to  construct  and  operate  its  own  roads,  an  effort  which 
fails  utterly  after  having  brought  about  the  insolvency  of  the 
state  government. 

The  third  period  (1840-1869)  marks  a  return  to  the  plan  of 
incorporated  private  companies  aided  in  some  cases  by  Federal 
land  grants  and  in  others  by  the  bond  issues  of  counties,  town- 
ships and  municipalities.  It  is  a  period  of  rapid  construction, 
but  one  in  which  later  difficulties  are  engendered,  owing  to  the 
loosely  drawn  charters  arid  the  reckless  financial  aid  furnished 

by  the  local  governments. 

[225] 


18 

The  fourth  period  (1870-1876)  is  characterized  by  the 
"  Granger"  agitation,  and  by  the  efforts  of  the  people  to  regu- 
late railway  rates  and  to  prevent  unjust  discriminations  by  the 
establishment  of  the  Railroad  and  Warehouse  Commission. 
During  this  period  the  struggle  for  control  is  being  carried  on 
in  the  State  and  Federal  courts  and  results  in  the  complete 
triumph  of  the  policy  of  state  regulation. 

The  fifth  period  (1877-present  time)  is  a  period  of  calm  in 
which  the  principle  of  public  control  is  recognized  by  the 
roads,  and  the  work  of  the  Railroad  and  Warehouse  Commis- 
sion is  carried  on  without  interference  on  the  part  of  the  rail- 
way managers.  It  is  the  importance  which  is  attached  to 
these  later  periods  which  furnishes  the  interest  to  the  follow- 
ing pages. 

UNIVERSITY  OF  ILLINOIS,  M.  B.  HAMMOND. 

March  1,  1904. 


[226] 


SECTION  I 

RAILWAY  CONDITIONS   IN   1870   AND   THE   CONSTITUTIONAL   PRO- 
VISIONS CONCERNING  RAILROADS. 


The  twenty  years  preceding  1870  had  witnessed  a  rapid  de- 
velopment of  railroads  in  Illinois.  In  1851  this  commonwealth 
had  only  one  hundred  and  eleven  miles  of  railroads,and  was  the 
eighteenth  state  in  the  Union  with  respect  to  railway  mileage. 
By  January  1,  1871  the  number  of  miles  had  increased  to  4,823 
an  amount  in  excess  of  that  of  any  other  state.1  The  same 
period  saw  a  rapid  increase  in  the  population  and  wealth  of  the 
state,  an  increase  which  was  greatest  in  those  sections  through 
which  the  railroads  had  been  built.  The  people  of  Illinois  had 
soon  realized  the  aid  which  might  be  rendered  by  the  railroads 
in  industrial  development  and  the  demand  for  increased  rail- 
way facilities  came  from  all  parts  of  the  state. 2 

So  great  was  this  eagerness  for  the  extension  of  the  roads 
that  hasty  and  ill-considered  means  had  often-times  been 
adopted  for  the  acceleration  of  the  movement.  Towns  and 
counties  had  bonded  themselves  to  subscribe  to  the  stock  of 
new  railroads  proposing  to  build  through  them  and  individual 
citizens  in  many  cases  went  so  far  as  to  mortgage  their  proper- 
ty to  subscribe  to  the  stock  of  the  roads.3  By  the  granting  of 
special  privileges  in  charters  the  state  legislature,  also,  did  all 
in  its  power  to  hasten  the  construction  of  new  lines  of  road.* 
From  1850  to  1870  charters  had  been  granted  to  three  hundred 
and  twenty-two  railway  companies.5  The  close  of  the  Civil  War 

1  H.  V.  Poor,  "Manual  of  Railroads  of  the  United  States,"  1871 -'72,  p.  XXXII. 

2  John  Moses,  ''Illinois,  Historical  and  Statistical,"  11:1057-8. 

3  Ibid.,  1058. 

4  Davidson  and  Stuve,  "History  of  Illinois."  1020. 

5  Laws  of  Illinois,  1851-1869. 

[227] 


20 

had  left  idle  a  class  of  men  who  were  particularly  attracted  to 
the  field  of  railway  enterprise.1  All  of  these  causes  had  com- 
bined to  produce  an  abnormal  development  of  railroads. 

It  was  inevitable  that  this  over  development  of  the  roads 
should  lead  in  many  cases  to  failure.  As  a  result  of  this  fail- 
ure the  people  saw  that  their  hopes  of  the  benefits  to  be  de- 
rived from  the  building  of  the  roads  were,  in  most  cases,  not  to 
be  realized.  The  profits  with  which  the  holders  of  the  railway 
stock  were  expecting  to  pay  the  interest  on  the  debt  which  they 
had  incurred  to  buy  this  stock  were  not  forthcoming.  Further 
than  this,  the  stock  itself  was  rendered  valueless  by  the  failure 
of  the  roads  and  often-times  the  farmer,  with  nothing  to  com- 
pensate him.  was  obliged  to  see  the  foreclosure  of  the  mort- 
gage which  he  had  placed  upon  his  farm  to  enable  him  to  buy 
railway  stock.  The  people  were  further  dissatisfied  with  the 
fact  that  the  roads  were  using  up  in  the  payment  of  large  sal- 
aries to  railway  officials  the  profits  which  the  public  had  expect- 
ed to  share.  The  citizens  were  also  burdened  with  the  heavy  tax 
which  was  necessary  to  liquidate  the  bonded  indebtedness  of 
counties  and  towns.8 

The  chief  cause  of  the  public  dissatisfaction,  however,  is  to 
be  found  in  the  management  of  the  roads.  Each  company  ar- 
ranged its  rates  with  a  view  to  securing  as  large  a  share  of  the 
traffic  as  possible  and,  as  a  consequence,  the  evils  of  discrimi- 
nations between  places  and  persons  arose.  Rates  at  compet- 
ing points  were  made  so  low  that  they  were  not  sufficient  to 
pay  the  cost  of  transportation  and  the  loss  was  made  up  by  the 
charging  of  exorbitant  prices  at  non-competitive  points.  Per- 
sonal discriminations  were  also  frequent.  The  absence 
of  any  regular  tariffs  made  it  necessary  for  each  per- 
son to  make  a  separate  bargain  with  the  company,  and  there 
were,  as  a  consequence,  great  variations  in  the  rates  charged  to 


1  Davidson  and  Stuve,  op.  cit.  1020. 

2  Moses,  op.  cit.  11:1058. 

[228] 


21 

different  customers.1  Mr.  Pierce,  one  of  the  delegates  to  the 
Constitutional  convention  of  1870,  declared  that  the  railroads 
were  charging  exorbitant  rates  and  were  making  discrimina- 
tions, citing  as  an  instance  the  fact  that,  in  shipping  lumber 
from  Chicago  to  Springfield,  it  was  cheaper  to  ship  it  to  St. 
Louis  and  from  there  to  Springfield  than  to  ship  it  direct  to 
Springfield  from  Chicago.  He  also  asserted  that  the  people  of 
Illinois  were  being  discriminated  against  in  favor  of  the  people 
of  Iowa,  Wisconsin,  Kansas  and  Nebraska.8  Although  his  de- 
scription of  the  situation  may  have  been  overdrawn,  it  is  cer- 
tain that  the  practice  of  making  unjustifiable  discriminations 
was  very  general  and  that  it  was  having  in  many  instances  a  dis- 
astrous effect. 

In  addition  to  these  grave  evils  of  railway  management  in 
the  state  there  was  one  which,  although  it  worked  no  consider- 
able hardship  to  the  patrons  of  the  roads,  did  much  to  aggra- 
vate them  and  to  excite  their  hostility.  This  was  the  attitude 
which  was  assumed  by  the  officials  and  employees  of  the  roads 
in  their  dealings  with  the  people.  Little  attempt  was  made  by 
these  officials  to  furnish  the  traveling  and  shipping  public  the 
most  satisfactory  service  which  it  was  in  their  power  to  give. 
The  courteous  treatment  of  the  customers  of  a  road  is  a  matter 
of  vast  importance  to  the  avoidance  of  friction  between  the 
roads  and  the  people  and  the  lack  of  a  proper  consideration  of 
this  point  is  stated  by  C.  F.  Adams3  to  have  been  one  of  the  two 
great  causes  of  the  hostility  to  the  roads  which  marked  the 
Granger  movement. 

Two  acts  of  the  state  legislature  in  1869,  which  served  as  a 
good  illustration  of  the  lack  of  conservatism  which  marked  the 
action  of  the  legislature  at  that  time,  furnished  a  disturbing 
element  of  considerable  importance  in  the  railway  situation  in 

1  A.  E.  Paine,  "The  Granger  Movement  in    Illinois,"    manuscript   thesis,   Uni- 
versity of  Illinois,  1900,  12. 

2  Debates  of  the  Constitutional  Convention  of  1870,  11:1646. 

3  "The  Granger  Movement",  North  American  Review,   CXX:^c)8-4O4;  Paine  op. 
cit.  1 8,  19. 

[229] 


22 

1870.  These  acts  were  known  as  the  "tax  grabbing"  law  and 
the  "Lake  Front"  law.  The  first  of  these  laws1  provided  that 
all  counties  and  towns  which  had  bonded  themselves  to  aid  in 
the  construction  of  railroads  should  receive  for  ten  years 
all  of  the  state  taxes  on  the  increased  assessment  over 
the  assessments  of  1868,  and  all  of  the  taxes  which  were 
raised  during  the  same  period  from  the  railroads  in 
benefit  of  which  the  debt  was  created,  except,  in  both 
cases,  the  state  school  tax  and  the  two  mill  tax.  The  sums 
thus  received  were  to  be  applied  to  the  payment  of  the  bonds. 
The  effect  of  this  act  was  to  increase  greatly  the  amount  of 
local  aid  voted  to  railway  companies.  By  the  "Lake  Front" 
act2,  a  portion  of  the  lake  front  in  Chicago,  south  of  the  river 
mouth,  sufficient  to  construct  miles  of  dockage  and  outside 
harbor  was  given  to  the  Illinois  Central  and  Chicago,  Burling- 
ton and  Quincy  railway  companies,  together  with  some  land 
for  depot  purposes  within  the  city.  In  return  for  these  grants 
the  city  was  to  receive  $800,000,  a  sum  which  fell  short  of  the 

actual  value  of  the  property  by  nearly  $2,000,000.3  The  harm- 
ful effects  of  these  two  radical  measures  which  provided  such 
generous  assistance  to  the  roads  will  be  seen  later  when  the 
policy  of  the  state  changed  from  one  fostering  the  railroads  to 
one  restricting  them. 

The  evils  from  the  over-development  of  the  roads,  and  the 
discriminations  and  high  charges,  some  justifiable  but  many  not 
so;  the  hardships  resulting  from  the  too  liberal  use  made  of 
public  and  private  credit  in  aid  of  the  roads;  the  non-concilia- 
tory action  of  the  managers  of  the  railroads;  the  evils  at- 
tendant upon  absentee  ownership;  and  the  radical  attitude  of 
the  state  legislature,  all  combined  to  produce  in  Illinois  by 
1870  a  state  of  affairs  which  clearly  could  not  long  endure.  Dis- 
satisfaction was  general  throughout  the  state  and  was  especially 
keen  in  the  rural  communities.  The  feeling  prevailed  that  the 

1  Public  Laws  of  Illinois,  1869,  316-21. 

2  Ibid.,  245-8;  Davidson  and  Stuve,  op.  cit.  1021. 

3  Illinois  House  Journal,  1869,  111:523-4. 

[230] 


23 

previous  state  action  with  regard  to  the  roads  had  been  ill  con- 
sidered and  that  the  necessity  had  now  arisen  for  the  state  to 
take  some  positive  action  to  curb  the  growing  power  of  these 
corporations.  That  the  attitude  of  the  people  toward  the  roads 
was  the  result  of  the  Granger  movement  cannot  be  maintained, 
for  in  1870  this  movement  was  still  in  its  inception.  The  first 
grange  was  not  organized  in  the  state  until  1868  and  the  state 
organization  was  not  effected  until  1872.  The  same  forces, 
however,  which  were  to  give  the  Granger  movement  the 
strength  which  it  attained  in  Illinois  were  working  to  intensify 
popular  opposition  to  the  roads  and  in  this  way  a  close  relation 
existed  between  the  Granger  movement  as  such  and  the  atti- 
tude of  the  people  toward  the  railroads  at  this  time.1  Such 
was  the  condition  of  public  opinion  when  the  Constitutional 
convention  met  in  1870. 

The  delegates  to  the  convention  seem  to  have  been  almost 
unanimous  in  the  opinion  that  some  measures  restrictive  of  the 
railroads  were  necessary  and  they  felt  that  public  sentiment 
would  support  them  in  action  along  these  lines.  Mr.  Snyder, 
a  delegate  to  the  convention  from  Saint  Glair  county,  remarked 
that  "if  there  is  any  one  question  on  which  there  is  unanimity  in 
this  state,  it  is  on  restricting  these  railroads." 2  But,  although 
it  was  very  generally  agreed  that  there  was  a  necessity  for  re- 
strictive measures  there  was  wide  difference  of  opinion  as  to  the 
method  of  restriction  which  should  be  adopted.  The  chief  ques- 
tion to  be  settled  was  as  to  the  power  which  the  state  possessed 
to  adopt  measures  limiting  railway  charges. 3  On  the  one  side 
it  was  claimed  that  the  fixing  of  charges  by  the  state  legislature 
was  an  illegal  violation  of  the  rights  granted  in  the  charters  to 
the  railroads,  and  the  decision  in  the  Dartmouth  College  case 
was  cited  to  substantiate  this  claim.  On  the  other  hand,  it  was 
argued  that  if  the  railway  corporation  was  beyond  public  regu- 
lation, it  had  become  superior  to  the  state  which  had  given  it 
birth,  a  condition  of  affairs  which  was  impossible.  The  belief 

1  €/.  Paine,  op.  cit.  31. 

2  Debates  of  the  Constitutional  Convention,  1 1 11770. 

3  Ibid.,  II,  1637-64;  1708-23. 

[23  !.l 


24 

in  an  extensive  power  of  the  state  to  regulate  the  roads  was  the 
general  one  among  the  delegates  and  after  an  extended  debate 
the  convention  incorporated  in  the  Constitution  certain  pro- 
visions concerning  railroads  which  were  intended  to  define  the 
power  of  the  state  over  the  corporations. 

Article  XI.  of  the  constitution  provides  that  no  corpora- 
tion shall  be  created  by  special  laws ;  that  the  railroads  shall 
make  public  the  amount  of  their  capital  stock  and  the  names 
of  the  stockholders,  together  with  the  amount  of  their  assets  and 
liabilities ;  that  the  directors  of  each  road  shall  make  a  sworn 
annual  report  to  some  officers  designated  by  law  concerning 
such  matters  as  may  be  prescribed  by  law ;  that  consolidations 
of  competing  lines  shall  not  be  made  ;  that  the  General  Assem- 
bly shall  from  time  to  time  pass  laws  establishing  reasonable 
maximum  passenger  and  freight  rates ;  that  stocks  or  bonds 
shall  not  be  issued  except  for  money,  labor  or  property  actually 
received ;  and,  finally,  that  laws  shall  be  passed  to  correct 
abuses  and  to  prevent  unjust  discrimination  and  extortion  in 
freight  and  passenger  rates  and  to  enforce  such  laws  by  ade- 
quate penalties  to  the  extent,  if  necessary,  of  forfeiture  of  rail- 
way property  and  franchises.  A  resolution  was  presented  in 
the  convention  providing  for  the  insertion  in  the  constitution 
of  a  clause  establishing  a  railroad  and  warehouse  commission 
but  it  failed  of  adoption. 1 

Thus  through  her  fundamental  law  Illinois  took  an  ad- 
vanced position  with  regard  to  railway  control. 2  The  constitu- 
tion prepared  the  way  for  the  institution  of  some  system  of  reg- 
ulation, leaving  to  the  legislature  the  establishment  of  the  ma- 
chinery through  which  regulation  was  to  be  accomplished.  It 
even  went  so  far  as  to  command  the  legislature  to  pass  restric- 
tive legislation,  an  order  for  which  there  was  no  means  of  ex- 
ecution provided.  The  legislature,  however,  accepted  the  duty 
laid  upon  upon  it  by  the  constitution  and  enacted  laws  regula- 
ting the  railroads,  fully  as  advanced  in  character  as  were  the 
provisions  of  the  constitution  which  inspired  them. 

1  Debates,  II,  1648. 

2  Paine,  op.  cit.  20.  [232] 


SECTION  II. 

THE  RESTRICTIVE  LEGISLATION  OF  1871  AND  THE  WORK  OF  THE 

FIRST  COMMISSION. 


In  the  debate  on  the  adoption  of  the  railway  article  of  the 
Constitution  of  1870,  it  was  declared  by  one  of  the  delegates l 
that  the  people  expected  this  article  to  inaugurate  a  tight 
with  the  roads.  The  constitutional  provisions  opened  the  way 
for  positive  legislative  enactment,  and  the  expectation  of  the 
people  was  soon  realized.  * 

In  his  message  of  January  4,  1871,  to  the  Twenty-Seventh 
General  Assembly,  the  first  to  be  held  after  the  adoption  of  the 
new  constitution,  Governor  Palmer  considered  the  railway 
problem  at  some  length. 3  He  declared  that  the  claim  that  the 
state  legislature  did  not  have  the  power  to  regulate  railway 
rates  was  equivalent  to  the  assertion  that  "a  power  had  grown 
up  in  the  state  greater  Ithan  the  state  itself".  In  considering 
the  need  for  state  intervention,  Governor  Palmer  took  an  ad- 
vanced position  in  regard  to  the  effects  of  railway  competition. 
''Those  who  deny  the  necessity  of  state  intervention",  he  said, 
"insist  that  all  of  the  evils  of  excessive  tariffs  and  unjust  dis- 
criminations in  rates  for  transportation  will  be  ultimately  cor- 
rected by  the  competition  of  different  lines  of  railways  in  their 
efforts  to  control  business.  Competition  is  far  more  expensive 
than  direct  methods  of  legal  control.  The  grossest  oppressions 
that  burden  the  people  grow  out  of  the  fierce  and  exhaust- 
ing railway  competition  at  important  points,  where  their  inter- 
ests come  in  conflict ;  and  one  of  the  strongest  reasons  for  the 

1  Washburn,  of  the  sixth  representative  district. 

2  Paine,  op.cit.,  p.  21. 

3  Senate  Journal,  1871,  19-22. 

[2331 


26 

interference  of  the  Legislature  to  control  the  management  of 
railway  lines  is,  that  the  burdens  of  the  useless  competition  of 
different  lines  are  thrown  upon  intermediate  points,  where  com- 
petition is  impossible.  Deprive  railroad  corporations  of  the  pow- 
er to  impose  discretionary  rates  upon  their  traffic,  and  the  busi- 
ness community  would  suffer  far  less  from  the  selfish  contests 
of  competing  lines,  that  in  their  effect  unsettle  values,  to  the 
confusion  of  business  and  the  disappointment  of  the  most  pru- 
dent commercial  calculations."  In  regard  to  the  difficulties  of 
the  railway  problem,  Governor  Palmer  added,  "The  difficulties 
that  occur  to  my  mind  do  not  relate  to  the  power  of  the  state 
to  enact  and  enforce  proper  laws,  but  they  grow  out  of  the  com- 
plex nature  of  the  subject.  There  are  conflicting  interests  to  be 
reconciled  and  adjusted,  and  nothing  within  the  sphere  of  gov- 
ernmental action  requires  more  delicacy  of  management  than 
what  is  termed  the  railway  problem." 

The  Twenty-Seventh  General  Assembly  did  not  hesitate  to 
follow  the  requirements  of  the  constitution,  and  six  acts,  de- 
signed to  institute  state  regulation  of  the  railroads,  were  passed 
at  this  session.1  These  acts  contained  provisions,  (1)  for  the  in- 
corporation of  railway  companies,  (2)  limiting  railway  consoli- 
dation, (3)  regulating  the  receiving,  transportation  and  delivery 
of  grain,  (4)  prohibiting  unjust  discriminations  and  extortion 
in  freight  rates,  (5)  fixing  reasonable  maximum  rates  for  pass- 
enger traffic,  and,  finally,  (6)  establishing  a  board  of  railroad 
and  warehouse  commissioners. 

The  general  incorporation  act  prescribed  and  defined  the 
duties  of  railway  corporations,  and  limited  their  powers  by 
expressly  reserving  to  the  general  assembly  the  power  to  pre- 
vent unjust  discriminations  and  extortions  and  to  fix  maximum 
freight  and  passenger  rates.2 

The  act  "to  provide  for  changes  in  incorporated  com- 
panies" granted  to  railway  companies  the  right  to  consolidate, 
but  provided  that  consolidation  should  not  take  place  between 

1  Laws  of  Illinois,  1871-72. 

2  Ibid.,  625-34. 

[234] 


27 

parallel  or  competing  lines.1  A.S  to  what  were  to  be  considered 
parallel  or  competing  lines  the  act  made  no  statement.  This 
provision  of  the  law,  following  as  it  does  a  similar  clause  in 
the  constitution,2  is  interesting  as  it  reveals  the  general  opinion 
of  the  time  as  to  the  effect  of  railway  competition.  Notwith- 
standing the  opinion  expressed  by  Governor  Palmer,  competi- 
tion seems  to  have  been  considered  an  effective  remedy  for 
railway  evils  instead  of  one  of  the  primary  sources  of  some  of 
the  grossest  of  those  evils. 

The  act  regulating  the  receiving,  transportation,  and  de- 
livery of  grain  forbade  discrimination  between  shippers  and 
warehouses  in  the  handling  of  grain. 

The  act  to  prevent  unjust  discriminations  and  extortion  in 
freight  rates3  provided  "that  no  railroad  corporation  organized 
or  doing  business  in  this  state  *  *  *  shall  charge  or  col- 
lect for  the  transportation  of  goods,  merchandise  or  property 
on  its  said  road,  for  any  distance,  the  same  nor  any  larger  or 
greater  amount  as  toll  or  compensation  than  is  at  the  same 
time  charged  or  collected  for  the  transportation  of  similar 
quantities  of  the  same  class  of  goods,  merchandise  or  property 
over  a  greater  distance  upon  the  same  road,  nor  shall  such 
corporation  charge  different  rates  for  receiving,  handling  or 
delivering  freights  at  different  points  on  its  road,  or  roads  con- 
nected therewith  which  it  has  a  right  to  use.  Nor  shall  such 
railroad  corporation  charge  or  collect  for  the  transportation  of 
goods,  merchandise  or  property  over  any  portion  of  its  road,  a 
greater  amount  as  toll  or  compensation  than  shall  be  charged 
or  collected  by  it  for  the  transportation  of  similar  quantities 
of  the  same  class  of  goods,  merchandise  or  property  over  any 
other  portion  of  its  road  of  equal  distance."  The  provisions  of 
this  act  are  thus  seen  to  be  more  sweeping  than  the  provisions 
of  the  "long  and  short  haul  clause"  of  the  interstate  commerce 


1  Laws  of  Illinois,  1871-72,  487-90. 

2  Art.  ix,  Sec.  ii. 

3  Laws  of  Illinois,  635-6. 

[235] 


28 

act  of  1887. 1  The  Illinois  statute  makes  the  charging  of  the 
same  or  greater  sum  for  the  shorter  distance  than  is  charged 
for  a  longer  illegal  under  all  circumstances,  while  the  federal 
law  only  makes  such  a  charge  illegal  when  the  shorter  distance 
is  included  within  the  longer  and  the  haul  is  in  the  same 
direction. 

The  act  concerning  freight  rates  further  provided2  that  no 
increase  should  be  made  in  the  rate  then  existing  between  any 
two  points,  in  following  out  the  provisions  of  the  act  and  that 
the  rates  on  any  day  should  not  be  higher  than  the  rates  which 
existed  on  the  corresponding  day  of  the  year  1870.  In  cases 
where  the  law  was  violated,  the  party  aggrieved  was  entitled 
to  collect  in  an  action  of  debt  a  sum  not  exceeding  one  thou- 
sand dollars  and  costs. 3 

Although  the  aim  of  this  act,  the  prevention  of  unjust 
discrimination  in  freight  rates  was  a  laudable  one,  the  act  was 
so  constructed  that  it  worked  injustice  to  the  roads.  Condi- 
tions may  very  easily  be  so  different  in  different  parts  of  a  road 
that  a  reasonable  charge  for  a  certain  distance  at  one  place 
may  be  unreasonably  high  at  another,  and  a  discrimination 
by  which  more  is  charged  for  a  shorter  distance  on  one  part  of 
the  line  than  is  charged  for  a  longer  distance  on  another  part 
may  be  perfectly  just.  The  provision  that  rates  should  not  on 
any  day  be  higher  than  the  corresponding  rates  on  the  same 
day  of  1870  was  also  extremely  unwise  as  the  year  1870  pre- 
sented some  astonishing  fluctuations  in  freight  rates.  In  1869 
and  1870  freight  rates  between  New  York  and  Chicago  varied 
from  $5  to  $37  per  ton  and  between  New  York  and  St.  Louis 
there  were  variations  of  from  $7  to  $46  per  ton.*  A  worse  year 
to  serve  as  a  standard  could  not  have  been  chosen. 

The  act  which  had  for  its  object  the  control  of  passenger 
rates1  proposed  to  accomplish  this  by  a  classification  of  the 

1  24  U.  S.  Statutes  at  Large,  379-387,  Sec.  4. 

2  Sec.  3. 

3  Sec.  5. 

4  R.  R.  &  W.  Com.  Report,  1871-72.     This  report  is   published  in  the  Reports 
to  the  General  Assembly  of  Illinois,  1871,  II:  423-596. 

[236] 


29 

roads  according  to  their  gross  earnings.    The  roads  were  divided 

into  four  classes  as  follows: 

Class  A — Those  whose  gross  annual   earnings  per  mile  were 

$10,000  or  over. 
Class  B — Those  whose  gross  annual   earnings  per  mile  were 

between  $8,000  and  $10,000. 
Class  C — Those  whose  gross  annual   earnings   per  mile  were 

between  $4,000  and  $8,000. 
Class  D — Those  whose  gross  annual  earnings  were  less  than 

$4,000  per  mile. 

The  act  provided  that  the  roads  in  these  classes  were  not  to 
charge  for  the  transportation  of  passengers  more  than  2-|,  3,  4 
and  5^  cents  per  mile  respectively,  and  required  each  road  to 
keep  posted  a  table  of  distances  between  points  on  its  line  to- 
gether with  a  statement  of  the  class  to  which  the  road  be- 
longed. Thus  for  the  first  time  in  the  history  of  the  state  a 
classification  of  the  roads  with  respect  to  the  rates  to  be 
charged  was  made.  Although  the  method  of  classification 
adopted,  one  based  on  the  gross  earnings  of  the  companies,  may 
not  have  been  the  best  possible,  the  legislature  in  providing 
any  form  of  classification  took  an  advanced  position  for  the 
time. 

The  legislative  measure,  however,  that  was  to  have  the 
most  far-reaching  effect  was  the  act  establishing  the  railroad 
and  warehouse  commission.  This  act2  provided  that  the  gov- 
ernor of  the  state  was  to  appoint  within  twenty  days  of  the 
passage  of  the  act  a  board  of  three  commissioners,  no  one  of 
whom  was  to  have  any  connection  with  a  railroad  company  or 
be  interested  in  any  stock  or  property  of  a  company.  To  this 
board  of  commissioners  the  law  required  every  railway  com- 
pany doing  business  in  the  state  to  make  an  annual  report. 

Forty-one  particulars  on  which  definite  report  was  to  be  made 
are  specified.  These  embrace  a  very  full  statement  of  the  rail- 

1  Laws  of  Illinois,  1871-72,  640-1. 

2  Ibid.,  618-625. 

[237] 


30 

road's  business  and  of  its  running  arrangements.  -Among  other 
things  each  road  was  required  to  report  on  the  a  mount  of  its  cap- 
ital stock,  by  whom  it  was  owned,  and  the  amount  of  cash  paid 
the  company  on  the  original  capital  stock;  the  names  and  resi- 
dences of  its  officials;  the  amount  of  its  assets  and  liabilities 
and  of  its  bonded  and  floating  debt;  the  value  of  all  its  property; 
the  mileage  of  the  road  and  the  mileage  of  freight  and  passen- 
ger trains;  the  monthly  earnings  and  expenses  from  passenger 
and  freight  transportation;  expenses  for  improvement;  passen- 
ger and  freight  rates  and  a  copy  of  all  its  published  schedules, 
whether  or  not  the  published  rates  were  followed;  and  the  run- 
ning arrangements  with  express  and  other  railway  companies. 
The  commission  was  required  to  make  an  annual  report  of 
the  facts  gathered  to  the  governor. 

The  commission  was  further  required  to  inquire  into  the 
fulfillment  of  the  law  by  the  railway  companies  and  to  prose- 
cute the  company  where  cases,  of  the  violation  of  the  law  were 
reported  to  it  or  discovered  by  its  own  efforts.  The  commis- 
sioners were  given  power  to  examine  the  books  of  all  railway 
companies  and  to  subpoena  witnesses.  Failure  to  obey  the 
process  of  subpo3na  was  punishable  by  fine,  imprisonment,  or 
both.  Failure  to  make  the  reports  required  by  the  law  or  by 
the  commissioners  was  also  punishable  by  fine.  The  attorney- 
general  and  the  state's-attorneys  were  required  to  institute  and 
prosecute  all  suits  which  were  referred  to  them  by  the  commis- 
sioners. 

With  these  six  measures  the  state  legislature  began  the 
work  of  public  regulation  of  the  railroads.  On  July  3,  1871, 
Governor  Palmer  appointed  Gustavus  Koerner,  Richard  P. 
Morgan,  jr.,  and  David  S.  Hammond  as  the  first  board  of  rail- 
road and  warehouse  commissioners. 1  The  board  met  on  July 
5th  and  began  their  duties  by  sending  requests  to  the  railway 
companies  doing  business  in  the  state  to  make  a  report  by  Sep- 
tember 1st  on  the  particulars  specified  in  the  act  establishing 
the  commission,  and  also  requested  a  report  by  August  1st  on 

i  Moses,  op.  cit.t  II.,  809. 

[238] 


31 

the  amount  of  their  gross  annual  earnings  for  the  year  ending 
June  30,  1871,  and  the  total  length  of  road  on  which  these 
earnings  were  made,  in  order  that  the  classification  for  the 
schedule  of  passenger  rates  might  be  made. 

The  railway  companies  were  slow  in  sending  in  their  re- 
ports and,  as  a  result,  the  board  was  unable  to  make  the  required 
classification  until  its  October  meeting. l  Of  twenty-one  roads 
operating  in  the  state  two  did  not  issue  reports,  two  did  not 
issue  reports  full  enough  for  classification,  and  of  the  remain- 
ing seventeen,  two  were  classed  in  Class  A,  three  in  Class  B, 
five  in  Class  C,  and  seven  in  Class  D.  The  gross  earnings  per 
mile  of  the  roads  varied  from  $1,800  in  the  case  of  the  St. 
Louis  and  Southeastern  to  $15,000  per  mile  on  the  fourteen 
miles  of  the  Lake  Shore  and  Michigan  Southern.2 

The  reports  as  sent  in  by  the  companies  were  imperfect. 
The  different  methods  adopted  by  the  various  companies  for 
keeping  their  books  made  uniform  reports  practically  impos- 
sible. Books  of  different  companies  were  kept  for  different 
fiscal  years  and  many  of  the  roads  of  the  state  were  merely 
parts  of  great  railway  systems  running  through  other  states  so 
that  separate  accounts  were  not  kept  for  the  part  of  the  road 
in  Illinois.3 

Under  such  conditions,  the  task  of  securing  compliance 
with  the  law  must  necessarily  have  been  a  difficult  one,  but  it 
was  rendered  doubly  so  by  the  attitude  of  the  roads  toward  the 
new  laws.  The  people  looked  upon  these  laws  as  effectually 
settling  the  railway  question.  The  roads,  however,  denied  the 
constitutionality  of  the  law  and  determined  to  pay  no  atten- 
tion whatever  to  it  until  it  had  been  passed  upon  by  the  courts. 

This  attitude  is  clearly  shown  in  a  letter  which  represen- 
tatives of  four  of  the  leading  roads  of  the  state  submitted  on 
August  1,  1871,  to  the  commissioners  after  a  conference  had 
been  held  with  them.  This  letter  formally  denied  the  validity 

1  R.  R.  &  W.  Com.  Report,  1871,  4. 

2  Ibid.,  64. 

3  Ibid.,  5. 

[239] 


32 

of  the  law  under  which  the  commission  was  working  and  asked 
that  the  board  institute  legal  steps  to  secure  in  a  court  of  last 
resort  a  decision  determining  "the  relative  rights  and  duties  of 
the  state  and  the  railroad  companies". l 

Among  the  first  of  the  complaints  to  be  made  to  the  com- 
mission were  a  number  to  the  effect  that  the  railroads  were 
violating  the  long  and  short  haul  clause  of  the  act  to  prevent 
unjust  discriminations  and  extortion  in  freight  rates.  When 
the  commissioners  referred  the  complainants  to  the  clause  in 
the  act  which  gave  the  party  aggrieved  the  penalty  of  $1,000 
for  violation  of  the  law,  the  complainants  universally  refused 
to  prosecute,  declaring  that  they  could  not  afford  to  offend  the 
railway  companies  as  these  companies  had  it  in  their  power  to 
do  far  greater  harm  by  the  denying  of  accommodations  to  the 
complainants  than  the  penalty  could  benefit  them. 2 

The  first  report  of  the  commission,  made  in  December 
1871,  pointed  out  that  there  had  been  a  great  increase  in  railway 
construction  during  the  year  for  which  the  report  was  made 
and  that  a  large  amount  of  the  stock  of  the  new  companies 
was  fictitious,  but  the  railway  managers  were  nevertheless 
attempting  to  exact  rates  that  would  enable  the  companies  to 
pay  good  dividends  on  all  the  stock  issued.3  The  report  urged 
the  vital  importance  of  early  and  effective  action  by  the  legis- 
lature to  remedy  this  evil.  No  action,  however,  has  ever  been 
taken  by  the  legislature  with  a  view  to  the  regulation  of  the 
practice  of  stock  watering. 

The  existing  legislation  was  discussed  by  the  commissioners 
and  amendments  were  suggested  which  they  thought  would  be 
beneficial.  They  showed  that  the  laws  as  passed  conflicted  in 
some  particulars  and  that  there  was  uncertainty  as  to  just  how 
far  the  new  laws  repealed  previous  legislation  on  the  subj  ect.  The 
law  establishing  the  board  gave  the  commissioners  power  to  insti 
tute  suits  against  the  railroads  for  violation  of  the  laws,  and  it  was 

1  R.  R.  &  W.  Com.  Report  1871,  59-60. 

2  Ibid.,  6. 

3  Ibid,,  9- 1 1. 

[240] 


provided  that  the  attorney-general  and  the  prosecuting  attor- 
neys were  to  act  under  their  direction,  yet  the  kind  of  action, 
whether  civil  or  criminal,  was  not  indicated  and  in  many  cases 
the  penalties  were  not  fixed.  The  commissioners  were  of  the 
opinion  that,  while  the  right  of  the  individual  to  prosecute  the 
company  was  retained,  there  ought  to  be  a  general  provision 
by  which  any  violation  of  the  law  would  be  made  an  indictable 
offense,  or  would  subject  the  offender  to  a  penalty  to  be  sued 
for  by  the  state. l 

The  report  also  pointed  out  the  difficulty  which  arose  from 
the  classification  of  the  roads  for  the  purpose  of  fixing  passen- 
ger rates  when  two  competing  companies  were  in  different 
classes.  The  road  which  the  law  allowed  to  charge  the  higher 
rate  of  fare  was  compelled  to  reduce  this  charge  to  the  rate 
which  the  law  fixed  as  the  maximum  which  its  competitor  could 
charge  in  order  to  meet  its  competition.  The  commissioners 
finally  suggested  a  remedy  which  they  thought  would  be  of  the 
greatest  value  in  solving  the  entire  railway  question  in  the 
state  and  the  one  which  in  their  opinion  was  perhapsjmost  likely 
to  be  ultimately  adopted,  that  the  state  own  a  few  of  its  roads 
and  by  the  management  of  these  and  the  control  of  the  tariffs 
charged  by  them,  regulate  the  other  roads  of  the  state. 2 

In  his  message  to  the  adjourned  session  of  the  general 
assembly  which  met  November  15,  1871,  Governor  Palmer  sug- 
gested that  the  new  railway  laws  would  need  amendments  to 
make  them  realize,  public  expectations,  as  the  commissioners 
were  not  provided  with  sufficient  means  to  enforce  the  law. 
He  pointed  out  in  particular  that  the  state's  attorneys,  the 
principal  legal  agents  on  whom  the  board  had  to  rely  would 
cease  to  exist  after  their  present  terms  expired  and  the  enforce- 
ment of  the  laws  would  be  left  to  the  county  attorneys. 3  The 
chairman  of  the  commission  had  prepared  a  bill,  consolidating 
and  digesting  all  laws  then  existing  in  regard  to  the  railroads 

1  R.  R.  &  W.  Com.  Report,  1871,  14. 

2  Ibid.,  25-26 

3  Senate  Journal,  1871,  11:5. 

[241] 


34 

and  removing  all  conflicting  features.  This  bill  was  intro- 
duced in  the  house,  but  was  lost  in  committee.  A  bill  prepared 
by  the  commission,  embodying  all  the  railway  police  laws  in 
force  in  the  state,  as  well  as  some  features  from  the  legislation 
of  other  states,  was  introduced  in  the  senate,  but  suffered  the 
same  fate  as  the  house  bill.1 

In  their  second  annual  report  the  commissioners  presented 
some  interesting  facts  with  regard  to  the  railroads  of  the  state. 
They  showed  that  by  November  30,  1872,  there  were  6,258  miles 
of  railroad  in  the  state  with  1,587  miles  in  process  of  construc- 
tion. The  average  cost  of  the  completed  roads  as  shown  by 
the  reports  of  the  commission  was  $42,264  per  mile.  The  com- 
mission believed  that  all  expenditure  over  $25,000  per  mile  was 
due  to  fictitious  stock,  sacrifices  made  in  sale  of  securities  and 
other  losses  due  to  bad  management  and  unavoidable  delays 
in  the  work  of  construction.2  By  the  time  of  the  issuance  of 
the  second  report  railroads  had  been  extended  until  seventy- 
three  per  cent  of  all  the  land  in  the  state  lay  within  five  miles 
of  some  road  in  actual  operation,  twenty-one  and  one-half  per 
cent  lay  between  five  and  ten  miles,  four  per  cent  between  ten 
and  fifteen  miles,  and  one  and  one-half  per  cent  lay  more  than 
fifteen  miles  distant  from  any  railroad.3  The  twenty-seven 
roads  actually  operating  and  issuing  reports  full  enough  for 
classification  showed  a  variation  in  gross  earnings  per  mile  for 
the  year  of  from  $772  to  $19,885.  The  average  gross  earnings 
were  $8,108  and  the  average  net  earnings,  $2,789.  Such  in  gen- 
eral was  the  condition  of  the  roads  when  the  attempt  was 
made  through  the  agency  of  the  courts  to  put  into  force  the 
laws  concerning  public  control. 


1  R.  R.  &  W.  Com.  Report,  1872,  12. 

2  Ibid.,  18. 

3  Ibid.,  19. 

[242] 


SECTION  III. 
LITIGATION  OVER  THE  ENFORCEMENT  OF  THE  LAW. 


Unanimity  of  opinion  throughout  the  state  as  to  the 
advisability  of  the  new  laws  in  restraint  of  the  railroads  was 
lacking.  In  some  portions  of  the  state,  and  in  Chicago  especi- 
ally, there  was  manifested  considerable  opposition  on  the 
ground  that  the  state  was  taking  up  a  war  upon  capital  that 
would  not  be  for  best  interests  of  the  people.  The  counties 
that  were  anxious  for  railway  development  opposed  any  state 
action  hostile  to  the  roads.  But  in  the  corn-growing  counties 
there  was  an  active  demand  for  the  enforcement  of  the  re- 
strictive legislation.  The  summer  of  1872  produced  an  extra- 
ordinary corn  crop  and  the  farmers  were  anticipating  great 
profits  from  the  sale  of  their  staple.  The  railroads  felt  that 
the  abundant  crop  would  afford  them  a  large  traffic  and  conse- 
quently tariffs  raised.  In  December,  1872,  corn  in  central 
Illinois  was  worth  seventeen  cents  a  bushel,  while  the  cost  of 
the  transportation  of  a  bushel  of  corn  to  New  York  was  thirty- 
five  cents,  over  twice  the  value  of  the  corn.  The  farmer  saw 
that  his  expected  profits  would  be  absorbed  by  the  railroads 
by  means  of  a  rate  which  he  considered  extortionate  and  he 
was  determined  to  see  the  law  enforced.1  In  answer  to  this 
popular  demand,  the  commission  sought  to  secure  compliance 
with  the  law  through  the  aid  of  the  courts. 

The  first  suit  under  the  new  laws  was  brought  by  Stephen 
R.  Moore  of  Kankakee  against  the  Illinois  Central  Railroad 
Company  for  charging  four  cents  a  mile  for  passengers  when 
the  classification  of  the  commission  called  for  by  law  allowed 
them  to  charge  only  three.  The  case  was  tried  in  the  circuit 
court  of  Kankakee  County  on  an  admitted  statement  of  facts. 

I  Davidson  &  Stuve,  op.  cit.  1027. 

[243] 


36 

December  4,  1872,  Judge  Wood,  who  occupied  the  bench  for 
this  trial,  handed  down  a  verdict  for  the  railroad  company.  The 
grounds  of  his  decision  were  that  it  had  not  been  shown  that  the 
rate  charged  was  unreasonable  and  that  the  fixing  of  rates  by  the 
legislature  was  an  unconstitutional  violation  of  the  railway 
charter.  The  decision  further  held  that  the  legislature  could 
not  at  any  time  fix  the  fare  as  it  had  no  judicial  powers  and 
no  means  of  ascertaining  whether  a  rate  is  reasonable  or  not. 
No  appeal  was  taken  from  this  decision  of  Judge  Wood  and  at 
the  time  it  was  taken  for  granted  that  the  decision  was  cor- 
rect. l 

In  a  later  case,  however,  which  came  up  under  the  same 
law,  an  appeal  was  taken  to  the  supreme  court  of  the  state 
and  the  constitutionality  of  the  law  was  upheld.  This  latter 
case,  generally  known  as  the  Neal  Ruggles  case,  arose  in  1873, 
and  the  decision  of  the  supreme  court  was  handed  down  in 
1878,  five  years  after  the  law  was  repealed.  The  opinion  of  the 
higher  court  in  this  case  was  that  "the  legislature  of  this  state 
has  the  power  under  the  constitution  to  fix  a  maximum  rate 
of  charges  by  individuals  as  common  carriers,  or  others  exer- 
cising a  business  public  in  its  character,  or  in  which  the  public 
has  an  interest  to  be  protected  against  extortion  or  oppression, 
and  it  has  the  same  rightful  power  in  respect  to  corporations 
exercising  the  same  business,  and  such  regulation  does  not  im- 
pair the  obligation  of  the  contract  in  their  charters." 2 

The  first  decision  of  the  supreme  court,  however,  in  which 
the  principal  points  at  issue  were  covered,  and  the  one  which 
led  to  important  changes  in  the  legislation  of  1871,  was  handed 
down  in  what  is  known  as  the  McLean  County  case.  This  case 
arose  in  1871  under  the  act  to  prevent  unjust  discrimination 
and  extortion  in  freight  rates.  On  December  5th  of  that  year, 
J.  H.  Rowell,  state's  attorney  of  the  ninth  judicial  district, 
acting  on  the  information  of  the  Railroad  and  Warehouse  Com- 

1  Davidson  &  Stuve,  op.  cit.  1028. 

2  91  Illinois,  256. 

[244] 


37 

mission  began  quo  warranto  proceedings  against  the  Chicago  & 
Alton  Railroad  Company  for  alleged  violation  of  the  act  men- 
tioned above.  The  information  filed  by  the  state's  attorney 
set  forth  that  this  company  had  repeatedly  transported  lumber 
from  Chicago  to  Lexington,  a  distance  of  one  hundred  and  ten 
miles,  for  $5.65  a  thousand  feet,  while  at  the  same  time  it 
charged  only  $5.00  a  thousand  feet  for  transporting  like  lumber 
from  Chicago  to  Bloomington,  a  distance  of  one  hundred  and 
twenty-six  miles.  The  former  haul  was  included  within  the 
latter.  The  railway  company  entered  a  plea,  admitting  the 
alleged  facts,  but  setting  forth  the  acts  of  the  legislature  by 
which  it  was  incorporated  and  claiming  that  such  acts  gave  it 
the  right  to  use  its  own  discretion  in  the  fixing  of  tolls,  and 
that  the  act  of  1871  was  in  violation  of  its  charter  rights,  and> 
therefore,  unconstitutional.  To  this  plea  a  general  demurrer 
was  interposed  and  the  case  came  up  for  hearing  on  the  de- 
murrer. 

It  is  worth  our  while  to  consider  in  detail  the  arguments 
presented  by  both  sides  of  this  important  test  case  as  they  pre- 
sent a  clear  statement  of  the  attitude  assumed  on  the  one  side 
by  the  railway  companies  and  on  the  other  by  the  people. 

Mr.  Corydon  Beckwith,  for  the  defense,  argued  that  the 
legislature  in  incorporating  the  railroad  had  given  the  directors 
the  power  to  fix  the  rate  of  toll;  that  the  Lexington  rate  was 
not  unreasonably  high  while  that  to  Bloomington  was  made 
unreasonably  low  to  meet  the  competition  of  the  Illinois  Cen- 
tral; that  by  common  law  the  company  had  the  right  to  charge 
more  for  a  less  than  for  a  greater  distance  in  order  to  meet 
competition;  that  the  state  had  the  power  to  contract,  the 
railway  company  the  capacity  to  be  contracted  with,  and  that 
the  state  had  not  surrendered  any  inalienable  rights  in  that 
the  judiciary  still  had  the  power  to  determine  what  were  rea- 
sonable and  unreasonable  rates;  and,  finally,  that  "the  legisla- 
ture never  had  the  right  to  fix  the  rates  to  be  charged  by 
common  carriers  except  by  contract.  It  can  no  more  fix  them 
for  an  artificial  person  than  for  a  natural  one.  It  may  require 

[245] 


38 

of  one  as  well  as  the  other  that  the  rates  shall  be  reasonable; 
but  it  cannot  make  itself  the  judge  of  what  rates  are  reasonable 
and  what  are  not  so.  The  contract  makes  the  judiciary  the  judge 
between  the  parties,  and  the  attempt  to  define  the  rights  of  the 
defendant  by  legislative  enactment  is  simply  the  judgment  of 
one  of  the  parties  to  the  contract." 1 

The  argument  for  the  people  was  an  equally  able  defense 
of  their  position.  It  set  up  that  the  question  underlying  the 
case  was  whether  the  act  of  1871  was  in  conflict  with  the  pro- 
visions of  the  constitution  of  the  United  States;  that  legislative 
authority  was  a  trust  which  the  legislature  could  not  irrevo- 
cably delegate  or  abandon  and  the  legislature  could  not  by  a 
contract  deprive  a  future  legislature  of  the  power  of  exercising 
any  act  of  sovereignty  confided  to  the  legislative  body;  that  the 
prevention  of  unjust  discrimination  and  extortion  comes  within 
the  legitimate  exercise  of  the  police  powers  of  the  state;  and, 
finally,  that  it  could  not  be  presumed  that  the  legislature  in- 
tended irrevocably  to  part  with  the  power  of  preventing  by 
legislative  enactment,  unjust  discrimination  between  commu- 
nities or  individuals,  and,  as  nothing  was  taken  against  the 
state  by  implication,  it  was  incumbent  upon  the  defendant  to 
show  that  the  state  by  positive  enactment  had  contracted  with 
the  defendant  to  withdraw  permanently  all  control  over  its 
rate  of  charges. 2 

Judge  Tipton,  the  presiding  judge,  handed  down  a  verdict 
for  the  people,  sustaining  the  demurrer  to  the  plea.  The  de- 
cision took  the  ground  that  no  part  of  the  contract  between 
the  state  and  the  defendant  was  impaired  by  the  law  of  1871, 
and  that  consequently  the  state  retained  the  power  so  to  regu- 
late and  control  the  franchise  of  the  defendant  as  to  determine 
what  should  constitute  unjust  discrimination  between  com- 
munities as  well  as  between  individuals,  and  to  prevent  such 
discrimination  by  proper  legislation.1 

J  R.  R.  &  W.  Com.  Report,  1872,  46-69. 
2  Ibid.  70-98. 

[246] 


39 

The  case  was  appealed  by  the  railroad  company,  and  was 
tried  in  the  January  term  ( 1873)  of  the  state  supreme  court.8 
The  decision  was  reversed  and  the  case  remanded.  Chief  Jus- 
tice Lawrence,  in  delivering  the  opinion  of  the  court,  declared 
that  the  legislature  had  a  clear  right  to  pass  an  act  preventing 
unjust  discrimination  in  freight  rates  and  to  enforce  it  by  ap- 
propriate penalties  ;  that'  a  less  charge  for  a  long  distance  than 
for  a  shorter  one  was  an  unjust  discrimination  unless  the  rail- 
road could  show  a  peculiar  state  of  affairs  to  justify  the  dis- 
crimination further  than  the  mere  fact  that  .there  were  com- 
peting lines  at  one  point  and  not  at  the  other  ;  but  the  consti- 
tution of  1870  had  given  the  legislature  power  to  enact  laws 
preventing  unjust  discriminations,  and  the  act  under  which  the 
case  is  being  tried  declares  all  discriminations  unlawful  without 
giving  the  railway  company  the  right  to  introduce  evidence  to 
show  that  the  discrimination  was  just.  Thus,  although  the 
court  held  that  the  legislature  had  complete  power  to  prohibit 
unjust  discriminations  in  freight  rates,  it  nevertheless  declared 
that  no  prosecution  could  be  maintained  under  the  existing  act 
until  it  was  amended  so  as  to  prohibit  unjust  discriminations 
and  not  discriminations  of  all  kinds. 

The  decision  of  Judge  Lawrence  cleared  up  the  railroad 
situation  in  Illinois.  It  showed  that  the  law  which  was  in- 
tended to  correct  one  of  the  grossest  abuses  in  the  railway  bus- 
iness, unjust  discriminations  in  the  transportation  of  freight, 
had  been  so  framed  as  to  be  contrary  to  the  state  constitution, 
and  that  consequently  the  legislature  had  failed  in  its  effort  to 
prevent  discriminations  in  freight  rates.  But  its  greatest  value 
lies  in  the  dictum  with  regard  to  the  power  of  the  legislature 
to  fix  rates.  It  plainly  declared  that  the  courts  of  Illinois 
would  not  uphold  the  railroads  in  their  contention  that  the  leg- 
islature in  granting  them  their  charters  had  surrendered  its 
right  to  regulate  charges,  and  that  they  were,  therefore,  not  sub- 
ject to  legislative  control  in  fixing  their  rates. 

1  R.  R.  &  W.  Com.  Report,  1872,    99-114. 

2  67  111.,  ii. 

[247] 


SECTION  IV. 

THE  LAW  OF  1873  AND   THE  POWERS  OF  THE  COMMISSION  AS 
MODIFIED  BY  IT. 


By  the  beginning  of  the  year  1873,  the  opposition  of  the 
farmers  to  the  railroads  had  reached  a  state  of  frenzy.  Numer- 
ous farmers'  conventions  and  meetings  were  being  held  and  at 
all  of  them  the  railway  situation  seemed  to  be  the  most  im- 
portant topic  for  discussion.  The  management  of  the  roads 
was  violently  denounced.  A  portion  of  an  address  delivered 
before  a  convention  of  delegates  from  granges  and  other  farmers 
organizations,  which  met  at  Bloomington,  January  15,  1873, 
clearly  illustrates  the  radical  attitude  of  the  farmers1.  "The 
whole  railroad  system  is  fast  falling  into  a  very  few  organizations 
each  of  whom  represents  hundreds  of  millions  of  dollars.  It 
looks  as  though  the  'King'  in  Wall  street  may  soon  rule  over 
the  whole.  Already  the  country  is  parcelled  out  in  lots  and 
vast  regions  to  the  different  systems.  In  most  cases  there 
is  no  restraint  to  their  charges  save  only  the  ability  of  the  vic- 
tim to  exist  under  the  load.  Like  hostile  invading  armies,  they 
levy  contributions  limited  only  by  the  ability  of  the  victims  to 
pay.  These  exactions  are  again  aggravated  by  unjust  discrim- 
inations against  persons  and  places.  If  competition  shows  itself 
at  a  few  points,  they  remorselessly  double  up  on  others  within 
their  grasp.  They  levy  an  Internal  Revenue  tax  by  their  own 

fiat  and  to  fill  their  own  coffers The  country  is  being 

robbed  and  large  portions  of  the  money  basely  applied.  Un- 
happy France  only  submitted  to  be  ravaged  after  a  gallant  strug- 
gle. These  railroad  Bismarcks  prey  upon  us,  and  as  yet  we 
have  scarcely  lifted  a  finger.  We  must,  Grant-like,  move  upon 
the  enemy's  works.  If  the  tidal-wave  now  rising  does  not  win, 
it  must  be  followed  by  such  a  succession  of  others  each  higher 
and  stronger  till  the  railroad  Pharaohs  are  brought  to  judg- 

i  The  Prairie  Farmer,  January  215,  1873. 

[248] 


ment."  Nor  were  legal  precedents  to  be  allowed  to  stand  in 
the  way  of  the  people  in  their  effort  to  control  the  roads.  "In 
our  advancing  civilization  public  interest  and  public  necessity 
will  not  be  thwarted  by  old  and  musty  cobweb  precedents. 
'Dartmouth  College'  may  have  been  well  enough  for  that  day 
and  for  an  institution  of  learning  ;  but  it  cannot  much  longer 

be  made  a  standard  rule  and  hobby  horse  for  railroads 

Let  that  decision  stand,  for  aught  we  care,  for  all  such  cases, 
but  it  will  no  more  apply  to  railroad  corporations  than  will  the 
baby  garments  of  infancy  clothe  the  stalwart  man,  or  the  con- 
stable's posse  meet  the  demands  of  a  great  revolution 

The  new  constitution  of  Illinois  declares  railroads  to  be  public 
institutions  subject  to  be  regulated  by  law,  and  commands  the 
legislature  to  act.  The  legislature  has  mildly  obeyed.  The 
roads  spit  upon  the  law  and  defy  the  people.  They  stand  in 
open  rebellion  to  the  constitution  and  laws.  Near  here  a  judge 
has  decided  in  favor  of  the  supremacy  of  the  people.  This  is  a 
good  start.  There  should  be  no  faltering.  Let  public  opinion 
be  aroused  and  the  executive  and  the  legislature  stimu- 
lated to  bring  all  their  powers  to  bear  upon  the  question."  Such 
were  the  remarks  of  a  man1  who  had  been  a  prominent  member 
of  the  constitutional  convention  of  1870. 

From  the  fruit  growers  of  southern  Illinois  came  the  cry 
that  they  were  "wholly  at  the  mercy  of  the  soulless  I.  C.  R.  R. 
Co."2  The  principal  topic  discussed  at  this  time  in  the  pages  of 
the  "Prairie  Farmer,"  the  leading  granger  organ  of  the  West, 
was  not  some  difficulty  in  corn-raising  or  fruit-growing,  but 
rather  the  best  means  of  bringing  the  railroads  into  subjec- 
tion to  the  will  of  the  people.  Hadley  in  his  "Railroad  Trans- 
portation"3 well  describes  the  position  of  the  farmer  when  he 
says,  "They  were  concerned  in  securing  what  they  felt  to  be 
their  rights,  and  they  were  unwilling  that  any  constitutional 
*  barriers  should  be  made  to  defeat  the  popular  will.  They  had 

1  Hon.  D.  L.  Whiting  of  Bureau  Co. 

2  The  Prairie  Farmer,  January  25,  1873. 

3  Page  134. 

[249] 


42 

reached  the  point  where  they  regarded  many  of  the  forms  of 
law  as  mere  technicalities.  They  were  dangerously  near  the 
point  where  revolutions  begin." 

The  farmers  made  their  influence  felt  in  the  state  govern- 
ment. When  Governor  Beveridge,  after  his  succession  to  office, 
sent  his  nominations  for  the  members  of  the  railroad  and  ware- 
house commission  to  the  senate  for  confirmation,  the  list  was 
not  satisfactory  to  the  farmers.  A  storm  of  criticism  of  the 
Governor  for  ignoring  the  wishes  of  the  people  arose,  which  so 
influenced  the  senate  that  it  became  evident  that  the  nomina- 
tions would  not  be  confirmed.  As  a  result  the  Governor  was 
forced  to  withdraw  his  nominations  and  send  in  appointments 
satisfactory  to  the  farmers. 1 

The  treatment  accorded  to  Judge  Lawrence  by  the  people 
shows  how  determined  was  the  attitude  assumed  by  the  farm- 
ers. When  his  decision  was  announced,  notwithstanding  the 
fact  that  it  contained  merely  a  statement  of  legal  principles, 
the  justice  of  which  was  clearly  obvious,  it  was  received  with 
an  outbreak  of  denunciation.  The  farmer  had  supposed  that 
the  vexed  railway  questions  had  been  finally  settled  by  the  laws 
of  1871,  and  their  disappointment  was  keen.  The  Supreme 
Court  and  Judge  Lawrence  in  particular  were  denounced  as  be- 
ing in  the  pay  of  railroads,  and  when  Judge  Lawrence  ran  for 
reelection  the  following  summer,  he  was  defeated  merely 
through  the  unpopularity  which  arose  from  this  decision.2  Such 
was  the  intense  state  of  popular  feeling. 

Nothing  was  more  natural  than  that  this  determined  atti- 
tude of  the  people  should  lead  to  a  demand  for  new  legislation. 
The  act  declaring  discriminations  in  freight  rates  illegal  was 
intended  to  correct  the  evils  in  the  freight  tariffs,  and  with  it 
declared  unconstitutional,  one  very  important  feature  of  the 
restrictive  legislation  of  1871  became  of  no  effect.  Some  law  to 
take  its  place  was,  therefore,  demanded.  On  April  2, 1873,  while 
the  legislature  was  still  in  session,  a  convention  of  the  farmers  of 

1  The  Prairie  Farmer,  February  15,  1873. 

2  A.  T.  Hadley,  "Railroad  Transportation,"  134. 

[250] 


43 

the  state  met  at  Springfield  to  urge  the  enactment  of  a  new 
railway  law  to  take  the  place  of  the  one  which  had  been  de- 
clared unconstitutional.1  In  response  to  this  popular  demand 
and  with  a  view  to  meeting  the  defects  in  the  law  of  1871  which 
had  been  pointed  out  by  Judge  Lawrence  in  the  decision  of  the 
Supreme  Court  and  by  the  railroad  commissioners  in  their  an- 
nual reports,  the  Twenty-Sixth  General  Assembly  passed,  May 
2,  1873,  an  act  to  prevent  extortion  and  unjust  discrimination 
in  freight  and  passenger  rates,  repealing  the  act  of  1871  to  pre- 
vent unjust  discrimination  and  extortion  in  freight  rates.* 

The  new  law  prohibited  unjust  discrimination  and  the 
charging  of  more  than  a  reasonable  rate,  and  made prima  facie 
evidence  of  unjust  discrimination  the  charging  of  a  greater  sum 
for  the  transportation  of  passengers  and  the  same  kinds  of  freight 
for  a  less  than  for  a  greater  distance;  and  the  charging  of  dif- 
ferent sums  for  the  same  distance,  for  different  persons  and  for  the 
same  kinds  of  freight;  and  further  declared  that  the  existence  of 
competition  at  certain  points  is  not  a  justification  of  such  dis- 
crimination.3 The  penalty  for  violation  of  this  pro  vision  is  a  fine 
which  is  to  be  recovered  by  an  action  for  debt  in  the  name  of 
the  state.4  The  railroad  and  warehouse  commissioners  are  en- 
joined personally  to  investigate  and  ascertain  whether  the  law 
is  being  observed  and  to  prosecute  all  violations  of  it.5  The 
commissioners  are  further  directed  to  prepare  a  schedule  of 
reasonable  maximum  passenger  and  freight  rates  for  each  of 
the  railroads  in  the  state.  In  actions  of  law  the  rates  of  such 
schedules  are  to  be  taken  as  prima  facie  reasonable.6 

This  last  provision  of  the  act  gave  to  the  commission  a  new 
power  of  vast  importance,  and  by  means  of  it  a  long  stride  in 
advance  in  the  work  of  railway  regulation  was  taken.  The  leg- 
islature had  now  hit  upon  a  means  of  controlling  rates  which, 

1  Prairie  Farmer,  April  12,  1873. 

2  Revised  Statutes  of  Illinois,  1874,  816-20. 

3  Sec.  3. 

4  Sec.  5. 

5  Sec.  7. 

6  Sec.  8. 


44 

while  perhaps  not  the  best  possible,  was  at  least  far  superior  to 
the  one  which  had  been  attempted.  The  laws  of  1871  had  fixed 
maximum  passenger  rates  for  the  roads,  but  no  attempt 
had  been  made  to  fix  maxima  for  the  freight  rates,  the  only 
provision  being  that  freight  rates  must  not  be  unreasonable 
or  discriminating.  Any  scheme,  however,  by  which  an  at- 
tempt is  made  to  fix  the  rate  of  tariff  by  legislative  enactment 
has  one  great  defect,  the  lack  of  flexibility.  No  matter  how 
just  may  be  the  maximum  rates  fixed  by  the  stutute,  changing 
conditions  will  necessitate  constant  changes  in  the  laws,  which 
it  is  impossible  to  secure.  This  difficulty  was  obviated  in  1873 
by  placing  in  the  hands  of  a  board  the  authority  to  fix  the 
maximum  rates,  and  the  granting  of  this  authority  greatly  in- 
creased the  power  of  the  commission. 

The  act  as  amended  in  1873  is  the  law  under  which  the 
commission  is  working  at  the  present  time.  The  chief  duties 
of  the  commission  prescribed  by  this  law,  so  far  as  they  pertain 
to  railroads  are : 

1.  The  making  of  schedules  of  maximum  freight  and  pas- 

senger rates. 

2.  The  investigation  of  complaints  and  the  enforcement 

by  prosecutions  of  violations  of  the  schedules  and  of 
the  statutes. 

3.  The  taking  of  precautions  to  secure  proper  and  safe 

physical  condition  of  roadbeds,  bridges  and  trestles. 

4.  The  requiring  of  annual  reports  from  the  various  roads. 

5.  The  making  of  an  annual  report  to  the  governor. 

The  Illinois  commission  was  thus  a  "strong"  commission, 
that  is,  a  commission  "with  power."  In  this  respect  it  inaugurated 
anew  method  of  railway  control  in  the  United  States.  State  rail- 
way commissions  had  existed  since  1836,  when  a  commission 
was  established  in  Rhode  Island,1  and  in  1871  six  states2  had 
commissions,  all  of  which  were  of  the  type  of  the  advisory  or 

1  Meyer,  Railway  Legislation  in  the  United  States,  p.  65. 

2  New  Hampshire,  1844;  Connecticut,  1853;  Vermont,  1855;  Maine,  1858;  Ohio 
1867;  and  Massachusetts,  1869. 

[252] 


45 

"weak"  commission.  In  the  creation  of  commissions  since 
1871,  the  majority  of  states  have  followed  the  example  set  by 
Illinois  and  have  adopted  some  form  of  the  strong  commission. 
Thirty  states  at  the  present  time  (Jan.  1,  1903)  have  railway 
commissions.  Of  these,  ten  states1  have  established  advisory 
commissions  and  the  remaining  twenty2  have  commissions  of 
the  strong  type.3 

The  functions  of  the  weak  commission  are  supervisory  and 
advisory.  Complaints  against  the  railroads  are  made  to  the 
commission  and  if  on  investigation  it  believes  the  complaints 
well  grounded,  it  recommends  to  the  railway  company  the  cor- 
rection of  the  evil  complained  of.  Failure  of  the  roads  to 
comply  with  the  recommendation  is  reported  to  the  governor 
or  to  the  legislature.  In  addition  to  the  supervisory  and  advis- 
ory functions  of  the  weak  commission,  the  Illinois  commission 
has  been  given  the  further  power  of  regulation.  Not  only  has 
it  the  right  to  investigate  complaints  and  to  make  recommend- 
ations to  the  railway  companies,  but  it  also  has  the  power  by 
the  institution  of  suits  to  compel  obedience  to  its  regulations 
and  compliance  with  the  law. 

A  typical  form  of  the  weak  commission  is  that  formed  in 
Massachusetts.  In  that  state  the  chief  duties  of  the  board  are : 

1.  To  investigate  as  to  whether  the  roads  are  living  up  to 
their  charters  and  to  report  violations  of  the  charter 
rights. 

1  The  ten  commissions  with  the  dates  of  their  establishment  are  :     Colorado,  1885 ; 
Connecticut,  1853;  Massachusetts,  1869;  Michigan,  1873;  New  York,  1883;  Ohio,  1867; 
Rhode  Island,  1872;  Vermont,  1855;  Virginia,  1877:  Wisconsin,  1874. 

2  Alabama,  1881;  Arkansas,  1899;  California,  1876;  Florida,  1897;  Georgia,  1879; 
Illinois,   1871;  Iowa,  1878;  Kansas,   1901;    Kentucky,  1880;    Louisiana,  1898;  Maine, 
1858;   Minnesota,  1871;    Mississippi,    1884;  Missouri,   1875;    New  Hampshire,   1844; 
North  Dakota,  1889;    South  Carolina,  1878;    South  Dakota,  1889;   Tennessee,  1897; 
Texas,  1891. 

Interstate  Commerce  Commission  Report  on  "Railways  in  the  United  States  in 
in  1902,"  Pt.  IV.,  46-60. 

3  F.  C.  Clark,  "State  Railroad  Commissions  and  How  They  May  be  Made  Effec- 
tive,"  in  Publications  of  the  American  Economic  Association,  VI:  473-582,  Appendix 
A,  Table  I. 

[2511 


46 

2.  To  care  for  the  safety  and  accommodation  of  the  public. 

3.  To  inspect  books  of  railway  companies  and  to  require  a 

uniform  system  of  accounts. 

4.  To  summon  witnesses  in  order  to  decide  upon  the  mer- 

its of  a  controversy  and  to  arbitrate  disputes  between 
the  roads  and  the  complainants.  If  the  roads  refuse 
to  obey  the  recommendations  of  the  commission,  the 
attorney-general  decides  whether  the  state  shall 
prosecute  or  not. 

5.  To  make  annual  reports  to  the  legislature. 

The  commission  relies  chiefly  orf  public  opinion  for  the  enforce- 
ment of  its  decisions.  The  public  press  is  used  in  keeping  the 
recommendations  of  the  commission  before  the  people,  and  the 
legislature  is  ever  ready  to  enforce  its  decisions.  In  this  way 
a  very  effective  control  over  the  roads  has  been  secured. 

Under  these  circumstances  it  might  seem  at  first  thought 
that  the  natural  course  for  the  Illinois  legislature  to  have  taken 
would  have  been  to  model  the  Illinois  commission  after  the 
commissions  which  were  already  in  successful  operation  else- 
where. It  must,  however,  be  remembered  that  the  state  con- 
stitution enjoined  upon  the  legislature  the  fixing  from  time  to 
time  of  reasonable  maximum  passenger  and  freight  rates,  and  this 
duty  was  very  naturally  entrusted  to  the  commission  as  the 
most  efficient  body  for  carrying  out  the  constitutional  provis- 
ions. There  were,  moreover,  differences  between  the  condi- 
tions in  the  New  England  states,  where  all  the  commissions 
then  existing,  with  the  exception  of  the  one  in  Ohio,  were  to  be 
found,  and  in  Illinois,  which  made  it  highly  probable  that  a 
supervisory  and  advisory  commission  would  not  be  successful 
in  its  working  in  this  state.  The  commissions  in  the  East  worked 
in  conservative  communities  where  public  opinion  was  a  power- 
ful force.  The  roads  were  owned  largely  by  capitalists  living 
in  the  community  and  on  whom  public  opinion  could  easily 
exert  its  force.  In  Illinois,  however,  the  roads  were  owned  by 
eastern  capitalists  who,  however  sensitive  they  may  have  been 

[254] 


47 

to  public  feeling  were,  as  C.  F.  Adams  points  out, *  in  no  posi- 
tion to  appreciate  the  exact  state  of  that  feeling.  Further  than 
this,  railroads  had  reached  a  considerable  development  in  New 
England  before  the  commissions  were  established,  and  these 
bodies  were  not  often  forced  to  meet  and  correct  the  evils  aris- 
ing from  rapid  railway  building.2  Industrial  conditions  were 
in  a  more  settled  state,  and  industry  had  adapted  itself  to  trans- 
portation conditions,  while  in  Illinois  in  1870  this  adaptation 
had  yet  to  take  place.  Such  considerations  seem  to  indicate 
that  the  results  obtained  in  New  England  could  not  have  been 
attained  in  Illinois  by  the  same  type  of  a  commission. 

In  addition  to  these  considerations,  the  attitude  which  the 
railroads  actually  assumed  would  seem  to  furnish  conclusive 
evidence  that  a  commission  of  the  Massachusetts  type  would 
have  been  unable  to  cope  with  the  situation  in  Illinois  at  this 
time.  The  railroads  made  no  attempt  to  correct  evils  which  it 
was  very  evident  were  universally  condemned  by  public  opinion. 
When  public  opinion  had  shaped  itself  into  the  restrictive  leg- 
islation of  1871-73,  it  has  been  shown  that  the  railroads  dis- 
played no  inclination  to  yield  and  only  conformed  their  prac- 
tices to  the  demands  of  the  public  when  forced  to  do  so  by  the 
courts. 


1  "Railroads,  Their  Origin  and  Problems,"  140. 

2  F.  B.  Dixon,  "State  Railroad  Control,"  201-203. 

[255] 


SECTION  V. 


THE  SCHEDULE  OF  MAXIMUM  RATES. 


One  of  the  most  important  provisions  of  the  law  of  1873  in 
its  direct  bearing  on  railway  conditions  was  that  which  made 
it  the  duty  of  the  commissioners  to  prepare  a  schedule,  for  each 
different  railroad,  of  reasonable  maximum  rates  of  charge  for 
the  transportation  of  passengers  and  freight.  Although  such  a 
provision  as  this  brought  the  railroads  to  a  much  greater  de- 
gree under  the  control  of  the  commission,  there  were  serious 
objections  to  conferring  on  the  commission  such  a  power.  It 
is  in  the  first  place  more  expedient  to  give  a  commission  the 
power  to  investigate  any  particular  rate  and  to  make  its  find- 
ings with  respect  to  that  one  rate  prima  fade  evidence  of  reas- 
onableness than  it  is  to  require  of  the  commission  the  making 
of  schedules  of  rates.  Different  roads  work  under  such  different 
sets  of  conditions  that  not  only  do  reasonable  rates  differ  for 
each  road,  but  they  also  differ  for  the  different  sections  of  the 
same  road.  Justice  in  the  rates  allowed  could  only  have  been 
approached  by  the  commission  undertaking  the  preparation  of 
a  schedule  for  each  road  in  the  state.  Even  such  a  plan  would 
have  left  out  of  account  the  important  fact  that  reasonable 
rates  differed  on  the  same  road.  This  difficulty  could  only  have 
been  met  by  the  clearly  impossible  task  of  preparing  schedules 
of  reasonable  rates  for  each  road  and  between  all  of  the  points 
of  shipment  on  each  road.  The  further  difficulty  would  have 
remained  that  the  time  of  year  is  a  determining  factor  in  the 
consideration  of  the  reasonableness  of  rates,  and  a  rate  which 
is  reasonable  for  one  time  of  year  might  be  clearly  unreason- 
able for  another. 

An  attempt  is  made  in  the  law  under  which  the  Interstate 
Commerce  Commission  is  working  to  obviate  the  difficulties 
which  arise  from  the  adopting  of  schedules  by  a  commission. 

[256] 


49 

That  law  makes  it  the  duty  of  the  commission  to  investigate 
individual  rates  on  complaint  or  on  its  own  motion  and  deter- 
mine their  reasonableness.  The  courts  have,  however, 
refused  to  admit  the  findings  of  the  commission  as  prima  facie 
evidence  of  reasonable  rates  and  Congress  has  not  yet  conferred 
upon  the  Commission  the  right  to  determine  in  specific  cases 
what  rate  is  reasonable  and  to  enforce  its  findings.  While  there 
are  many  grave  objections  to  a  plan  of  this  sort,  it  seems  prob- 
able that  its  employment  in  Illinois  would  have  been  more  ben- 
eficial in  its  workings  than  the  plan  which  was  adopted. 

A  difficulty  in  the  practical  working  of  the  law  arose  from 
the  fact  that  the  duty  of  making  the  schedules  devolved  upon 
a  board  of  commissioners  which  had  been  in  office  less  than  a 
year  and  which  was  made  up  of  men  who  were  not  practical 
railroad  men.  Although  the  remainder  of  the  law  went  into 
effect  July  1,  1873,  special  provision  was  made  that  the  section 
providing  for  the  adoption  by  the  commission  of  the  schedules 
of  maximum  rates  should  not  go  into  force  until  January  15, 
1874.  This  provision  was  made  in  order  that  the  commission- 
ers might  be  given  ample  time  to  prepare  the  schedules.  In 
August  of  1873,  the  commissioners  began  the  arduous  work  of 
preparing  these  schedules. l  A  more  difficult  task  cannot  easily 
be  conceived  of.  The  men  whose  positions  best  fitted  them  to 
prepare  schedules  of  reasonable  rates  were  the  traffic  managers 
of  the  various  roads,  but  whenever  these  managers  were  sum- 
moned before  a  commission,  they  referred  that  body  to  their 
published  schedules  as  their  idea  of  reasonable  rates.  It  was, 
however,  the  evils  of  these  very  schedules  which  the  commis- 
sion was  seeking  to  remedy.  The  commissioners  were  largely 
guided  in  their  work  by  the  testimony  of  well  informed  ship- 
pers throughout  the  state.  The  amount  of  capital  invested  in 
road  and  equipment,  the  amount  of  business  done,  and  the  av- 
erage proportion  of  the  operating  expenses  to  the  gross  earn- 
ings were  given  important  consideration. 

By  the  plan  which  was  adopted,  the  .roads  of  the  state  were 

I  R.  R.  &  W.  Com.  Report,  1873,  25,  26. 

[257] 


50 

divided  into  five  classes,  and  different  rates  were  provided  for 
each  class.  The  basis  of  the  classification  of  the  roads  was  the 
amount  of  business  done  and  the  cost  of  operation.  In  the  first 
class  known  as  "the  standard  class,"  was  put  a  number  of  the 
leading  roads  of  the  state  doing  about  the  same  amount  of  bus- 
iness at  approximately  the  same  cost.1  In  the  second  group 
were  placed  all  of  the  roads  doing  a  greater  business  than  the 
roads  of  the  standard  group.8  In  the  remaining  three  groups 
were  placed  the  roads  doing  a  less  business  than  the  roads  of 
the  standard  group.1'  It  will  be  seen  that  in  this  classification 
the  second  group  comprised  the  most  prosperous  roads 
of  the  state  and  the  fifth  the  least  prosperous. 

The  maximum  passenger  rates  fixed  by  the  commission 
varied  from  two  and  one-half  cents  a  mile  for  the  roads  of  the 
second  group  to  four  cents  a  mile  for  the  roads  of  the  fifth  group. 
Freight  was  divided  into  four  classes,  and  for  each  class  a  rate 
on  one  hundred  pounds  of  freight  for  the  first  mile  was  fixed  as 
well  as  the  amount  to  be  added  for  each  additional  mile  from 
one  to  five  ;  from  five  to  twenty  ;  from  twenty  to  thirty  ;  from 
thirty  to  one  hundred  and  forty ;  and  from  one  hundred  and 
forty  to  two  hundred  and  forty-seven  miles.  Car-load  rates  for 
each  class  were  fixed  and  special  car-load  rates  corresponding 
to  the  commodity  tariffs  of  the  present  time  were  made  for  (1) 
flour  and  meal ;  (2)  salt  and  cement ;  (3)  grain  (except  wheat ;) 
(4)  wheat;  (5)  lumber;  (6)  horses  and  mules;  (7)  cattle  and 

1  There  were  ten  roads  in  this  class  as  follows  :     Chicago  and  Alton  ;  Chicago, 
Burlington  and  Quincy  ;  Chicago  and  Northwestern  ;  Chicago,  Rock  Island  and  Pa- 
cific ;  Illinois  Central ;  Indiana,  Bloomington  and  Western ;  Indianapolis  and  Saint 
Louis  ;  Ohio  and  Mississippi ;  Pittsburg,  Cincinnati  and  Saint  Louis  ;  Wabash. 

2  These  were  :      Lake  Shore  and  Michigan  Southern  ;  Michigan  Central ;  Pitts- 
burg,  Fort  Wayne  and  Chicago.     These,   it  will  be  noted,  are  all  Eastern  "trunk 
lines,"  having  very  few  mjles  within  the  state. 

The  third  group  comprised  the  following  roads  :  Chicago  and  Eastern  Illinois  ; 
Illinois  and  Saint  Louis  ;  Saint  Louis,  Alton  and  Terre  Haute  ;  Toledo,  Peoria  and 
Warsaw;  Western  Union. 

In  the  fourth  group  were  the  Peoria,  Pekin  and  Jacksonville  ;  The  Rock  Island 
and  Peoria  ;  and  the  Saint  iJouis,  Rock  Island  and  Chicago.  The  fifth  group  con- 
tained the  remaining  six  roads  of  the  state.  R.  R.  &  W.  Report,  1879,  v-Com.-vii. 

[258] 


51 

hogs;  (8)  sheep  ;  and  (9)  coal.  These  rates  were  fixed  for  the 
roads  of  the  first  or  standard  group.  The  maximum  rates  of  the 
second  group  were  ten  per  cent,  lower ;  those  of  the  third, 
fourth  and  fifth  groups,  five,  ten  and  fifteen  per  cent,  higher 
respectively.1  The  rates  fixed  by  the  commission  for  the 
standard  group  varied  from  thirty-seven  cents  for  carrying 
one  hundred  pounds  of  merchandise  of  the  first  class  one 
hundred  miles  to  eighteen  and  one-half  cents  fora  sitnilar  haul 
of  merchandise  of  the  fourth  class.  The  standard  rate  on 
wheat  in  car  load  lots  for  a  hundred  miles  was  14.26  cent  per 
hundred  pounds.  The  corresponding  rate  on  coal  was  $1.60  a 
ton. 

In  the  classification  and  fixing  of  rates,  various  principles 
must  have  been  recognized.  A  few  illustrations  will  show  the 
conflicting  influences.  Common  soap,  for  instance,  was  placed 
in  the  fourth  class,  while  fancy  soap  went  into  the  second  class.2 
The  cost  of  hauling  different  kinds  of  soap  would  be  the  same 
and  the  justification  of  placing  different  kinds  of  soap  in  differ- 
ent classes  must  be  found  in  the  fact  that  one  kind  was  more 
valuable  than  the  other.  The  value  of  the  commodity  must, 
therefore,  have  been  recognized  in  fixing  the  rate.  On  the 
other  hand,  butter  in  crocks  was  placed  in  the  first  class,  and 
butter  in  kegs  or  boxes  in  the  second,3  a  clear  recognition  of 
the  "  cost  of  service "  principle.  In  their  report  for  1873,  the 
year  in  which  these  schedules  were  prepared,  the  commission- 
ers state  that  the  justice  of  the  rates  was  the  end  aimed  at  in 
preparing  the  schedules4  but  they  do  not  state  what  basis  they 
took  for  determining  just  rates.  In  the  report  for  the  follow- 
ing year,  however,  the  same  commission,  with  one  change  in 
its  membership,5  discussed  the  question  of  what  constitutes 

i  R.  R.  &  W.  Com.  Report,  1879,  vi,  vii. 
•2.  Ibid.,  1874,  376. 

3.  Ibid.,  1874,  371. 

4.  Ibid.,  1873,  26. 

5.  Chairman  H.  D.  Cook  had  died  in  November,  1873,  and  had  been  succeeded 
by  James  Steele. 

[259] 


52 

reasonable  rates.1  In  the  discussion  the  cost  of  the  road  and 
the  aggregate  cost  of  service  are  both  rejected  as  criteria  in 
determining  reasonable  rates,  and  the  conclusion  is  reached 
that  "there  are  certain  maximum  charges  for  transportation 
which  the  business  of  the  country  can  afford  to  pay  and  be- 
yond which  it  cannot  afford  to  go,"  and  if  the  value  of  the  road 
is  so  high,  that  when  these  maximum  rates  are  charged,  a  rea- 
sonable per  cent,  of  profit  is  not  made,  "the  sooner  its  owners 
cut  down  its  nominal  value  to  such  figures,  or  sell  to  other 
parties  at  such  price  as  will  justify  its  operation  at  reasonable 
rates,  the  better  for  the  community  and  all  concerned."  As  to 
what  is  a  reasonable  rate  for  the  transportation  of  a  particular 
commodity  the  board  comes  to  no  definite  conclusion  further 
than  that  a  classification  is  necessary  and  that  a  variety  of  cir- 
cumstances enter  in  to  make  it  "worth  more  to  transport  some 
commodities  than  others.''  The  commissioners  thus  more  or 
less  definitely  recognize  the  ;<  value  of  service  "  principle,  or  the 
principle  of  "charging  what  the  traffic  will  bear"  as  the  true 
criterion  of  reasonable  rates.  As  we  have  seen,  however,  an 
examination  of  the  classification  which  the  commission  adopt- 
ed shows  that  the  "value  of  service"  principle  was  not  consist- 
ently and  exclusively  followed,  but  that  "cost  of  service"  and 
other  principles  exerted  a  strong  modifying  inflence. 

As  might  be  expected,  the  schedules  of  reasonable  maxi- 
mum rates  were  unsatisfactory  both  to  the  commission  and  to 
the  people,  while  they  were  exceedingly  obnoxious  to  the  rail- 
roads. The  traffic  managers,  who  had  not  been  in  the  habit  of 
following  even  their  own  schedules,  refused  to  follow  those 
which  were  prepared  by  a  body  of  men  whose  authority  over 
them  and  whose  ability  to  deal  with  so  intricate  a  matter  was 
denied.  The  result  was  that  the  roads  paid  scant  attention  to 
the  schedules  and  considered  them  as  in  no  way  binding. 
Again  a  fierce  struggle  over  the  enforcement  of  the  law  broke 
out  in  the  courts. 

i.     R.  R.  &  W.  Com.   Report,  1874,  21-24. 

[260] 


SECTION   VI. 
THE  FINAL  STRUGGLE  IN  THE  COURTS. 


On  July  1,  1873,  apparently  as  the  result  of  some  agreement 
between  the  different  companies,  rates  at  all  competing  points 
and  at  many  non-competing  points  advanced,  and  the  public 
was  coolly  informed  that  the  advance  in  rates  was  due  to  the 
workings  of  the  new  law.1  The  commissioners  accepted  this 
action  on  the  part  of  the  railroads  as  equivalent  to  an  ultima- 
tum by  them  that  it  was  their  intention  to  settle  the  points  at 
issue  in  the  courts.  Suits  were  accordingly  commenced  by  the 
commission  against  the  Chicago  and  Northwestern  Railroad 
Company  at  Freeport  and  against  the  Illinois  Central  Railroad 
Company  at  Urbana  on  the  charge  of  extortion.2  The  commis- 
sioners thought  it  best,  and  in  this  view  they  were  upheld  by 
their  legal  counsellors,  not  to  begin  other  suits  until  the  sched- 
ules which  were  to  be  prepared  by  them  became  prima  facie 
evidence,  as  they  would  be  on  the  fifteenth  of  January  follow- 
ing. 3  The  case  against  the  Chicago  and  Northwestern  Railroad 
Company  was  begun  in  the  December  term  of  the  circuit  court, 
was  continued  to  the  March  term,  then  to  the  September  term 
and  again  to  the  March  term,  1875,  to  await  the  decision  of  the 
Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States  on  cases  pending  before  it.4 
The  case  was  later  dismissed  by  the  commission.5  The  suit 
against  the  Illinois  Central  was  also  dismissed,  the  purpose  of 
the  commissioners  being  to  institute  new  suits  when  the  sched- 
ules went  into  effect.  ° 

In  testing  the  validity  of  the  law,  the  policy  of  the  com- 

1  R.  R.  &  W.  Com.  Report,  1874,  q,  10. 

2  Ibid.,  8-10. 

3  Ibid.,  1873,  29- 

4  Ibid.,  1873,  10. 

5  Ibid.,  1875,  17. 

6  Ibid.,  1874,  10. 

[261  j 


54 

mission  was  not  to  institute  suits  in  all  cases  where  violations 
of  the  statute  were  found,  but  rather  to  begin  suits  against  the 
most  powerful  corporations  in  cases  in  which  the  various  points 
of  issue  were  clearly  involved.1  The  first  case  in  which  a  de- 
cision of  the  principal  point  of  controversy,  the  right  of  the 
legislature  to  authorize  the  commission  to  make  a  schedule 
which  would  be  prima  facie  evidence,  was  made  by  the  Supreme 
Court  of  the  state,  was  that  of  "The  People  v.  The  Illinois  Cen- 
tral Railroad  Company."  This  case  was  begun  at  the  October 
term,  1874,  of  the  Douglas  county  circuit  court.2  Judgment  for 
one  thousand  dollars  was  rendered  against  the  railway  com- 
pany in  this  court3  and  the  case  was  immediately  appealed  to 
the  Supreme  Court.  The  proverbial  delay  of  the  law  was  evi- 
denced in  this  case,  and  the  decision  of  the  Supreme  Court  was 
not  handed  down  until  1880.  By  this  decision  the  judgment  of 
the  circuit  court  was  affirmed  and  the  validity  of  the  law  of  1873 
declared.*  Although  this  was  the  first  case  decided  by  the  Su- 
preme Court  of  the  state  in  which  the  law  of  1873  was  involved, 
the  right  of  the  state  legislature  to  fix  a  maximum  rate  of 
charges  had  already  been  upheld  by  the  Supreme  Court  in  the 
Neal  Ruggles  case  to  which  reference  has  been  made.5 

The  law  empowering  the  commission  to  fix  schedules  of 
maximum  rates  and  to  compel  the  roads  to  abide  by  them  was 
thus  upheld  by  the  courts  of  Illinois.  It  yet  remained  for  the 
Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States  to  declare  whether  or  not 
the  constitutional  provision  that  no  law  impairing  the  obliga- 
tion of  a  contract  should  be  passed  by  a  state  legislature  had 
been  violated.  This  point  was  covered  in  a  decision  handed 
down  by  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States  in  October, 
1876,  in  the  case  of  Munn  v.  Illinois.  The  court  held  in  this 
case  that  the  state  legislature  had  the  right  under  the  constitu- 


1.  R.  R.  &  W.  Com.  Report,  1875,  15. 

2.  Ibid.,  1874,  12. 

3.  Ibid.,  1875,  17. 

4.  95  IH.  313- 

5.  Above,  pp.  28-29. 

[262] 


55 

tion  "  to  limit  the  rate  of  charges  for  service  rendered  in  a  pub- 
lic employment,  or  for  the  use  of  property  in  which  the  public 
has  an  interest."1  The  decision  in  this  case  served  as  a  prece- 
dent upon  which  was  based  the  decision  of  many  important 
cases,  commonly  known  as  the  "granger  cases,"  which  came 
up  to  the  supreme  court  from  Iowa  and  Wisconsin.2  After 
years  of  litigation,  the  position  of  the  commission  was  thus 
finally  established  by  the  courts. 


1.  94  U.  S.   113. 

2.  Davidson  &  Stuve,  op.  cit.,  1036. 


[263] 


SECTION  VII. 


GENERAL  LEGISLATION  AND  LITIGATION. 


In  the  preceding  chapters,  the  legislation  which  provided 
a  scheme  for  state  regulation  of  railroads  in  Illinois  has  been 
discussed,  together  with  the  litigation  which  grew  out  of  it  and 
which  finally  firmly  established  the  position  of  the  railroad  and 
warehouse  commission  and  their  right  of  control.  There  re- 
mains for  our  consideration  a  large  body  of  legislation,  which, 
while  lacking  the  importance  of  the  laws  already  considered, 
nevertheless  deserves  mention  in  a  history  of  railway  legisla- 
tion. To  this  should  be  added  some  railway  litigation  arising 
under  laws  already  referred  to  in  this  essay,  though  dating  from 
the  period  prior  to  1870,  which  had  an  important  bearing  in  the 
railway  history  of  the  state. 

Of  the  laws  which  have  not  yet  been  considered,  the  most 
important  are  those  providing  for  the  incorporation  of  railway 
companies  and  defining  the  powers  of  the  companies  so  incor- 
porated, and  the  laws  which  provide  rules  in  the  nature  of  po- 
lice regulations  governing  the  management  of  the  railway  bus- 
iness in  the  state. 

We  have  seen  that  the  constitution  of  1870  prohibited  the 
chartering  of  any  corporation  by  special  laws  *  and  that  in  1871 
the  legislature  passed  a  general  incorporation  law  for  railway 
companies.2  This  law  is  still  in  force  and,  with  a  few  minor 
changes,  is  the  law  governing  the  incorporation  of  railway  com- 
panies at  the  present  time.  In  1877  the  act  was  amended  by 
adding  a  provision  granting  railway  corporations  the  right  to 
purchase  another  company,3  and  in  1891  a  further  amendment 
was  made  to  the  effect  that  a  railway  company  in  this  state 


1  Above,  p.  24. 

2  Above,  p.  26. 

3  Laws  of  Illinois,  1877,  163,  4. 


57 

which  operates  a  railway  connecting  it  with  a  railway  owned 
by  a  company  of  another  state  might,  acting  by  itself  or  jointly 
with  this  foreign  company,  purchase  the  stock  and  securities 
of  the  connecting  road.1  In  1875  an  act  was  passed  empower- 
ing a  railway  company  operating  other  companies  under  lease 
for  a  period  of  not  less  than  twenty  years  to  buy  or  sell  "the 
remaining  interests,  property  or  franchises  of  such  railroads" 
on  terms  agreed  upon  by  the  parties  to  the  lease.2  A  provision 
was  added  which  forbade  railroads  in  other  states  from  becom- 
ing owners  of  roads  in  this  state  under  the  act,  but  in  1895  this 
restriction  was  removed.3  An  act  of  1883 provided  for  the  con- 
solidation of  corporations  owning  a  railroad  situated  partly  in 
Illinois  and  partly  in  other  states  when  separate  corporations 
are  organized  in  each  state  through  which  the  road  runs.4  In 
1885  railroads  organized  in  this  state  were,  on  complying  with 
certain  conditions,  given  the  power  to  purchase  and  to  hold 
railroads  which  are  located  in  other  states,  but  with  which  they 
connected.5  In  1889  the  acquisition  of  a  railroad  in  this  state  by 
a  corporation  of  another  state  was  made  possible  by  a  law  which 
provided  conditions  under  which  a  corporation  of  another  state 
which  was  in  possession,  or  owned  or  controlled  the  capital 
stock  of  a  railroad  in  this  state,  might  secure  ownership  of  the 
road.6  The  passage  of  these  laws  seems  to  have  been  largely 
due  to  the  demand  for  consolidation  of  railroads  and  to  the 
growing  faith  in  the  advantages  which  consolidation  would 
bring  about.  At  the  same  time  this  legislation  by  its  restrict- 
ive features  shows  the  fear  entertained  by  the  legislature  that 
the  roads  would  be  taken  beyond  the  control  of  the  commission. 
The  second  class  of  laws  to  which  I  have  referred,  the  laws 
providing  regulations  as  to  the  details  of  the  management  of 
the  railway  business  of  the  state,  constitutes  the  greater  part 

i  Laws  of  Illinois,  1891,  184-5. 

•2  Ibid.,  1875,  96. 

3  Ibid.,  1895,  293-4. 

4  Ibid.,  1883,  124  5. 

5  Ibid.,  1885,  229-231. 

7     Ibid.,  1899,  116-7. 

[265] 


V 

58 

of  the  legislation  which  has  been  enacted  by  the  general  as- 
sembly since  the  commission  was  established  in  its  final  form. 
Before  1870  laws  had  been  passed  at  different  times  containing 
various  provisions  with  regard  to  the  details  of  the  operation 
of  the  railroads,  the  maintenance  of  the  roadbed,  the  speed  of 
trains,  and  matters  of  this  sort.  In  1874  an  act  was  passed  which 
embodied  with  several  additions  the  more  important  provisions 
of  this  character  which  had  been  previously  enacted.  The  act 
contains  provisions  in  regard  to  the  fencing  of  the  track,  sign 
boards  of  warning  at  country  road  crossings,  the  speed  of  trains, 
the  stopping  of  trains  at  draw  bridges  and  railway  crossings, 
the  handling  of  baggage,  etc. l  Since  this  law,  additional  pro- 
visions concerning  union  depots,3  investing  railway  conductors 
with  police  powers  while  on  duty  on  trains,3  regulating  the 
selling  of  passenger  tickets,4  the  placing  of  interlocking  switch- 
es at  railway  crossings,6  and  others  of  the  same  nature  have 
been  added. 

In  general,  the  laws  just  referred  to  are  conservative  in  their 
character.  They  seem  to  have  been  enacted  with  due  regard 
to  the  rights  of  the  railway  companies  and  the  regulations  which 
have  been  prescribed  are  of  such  a  nature  as  to  insure  the  con- 
venience and  safety  of  the  public  without  imposing  onerous  re- 
strictions upon  the  railway  companies. 

It  is  a  noteworthy  fact  in  regard  to  Illinois  railway  legis- 
lation that  no  laws  restricting  railway  pooling  have  been  en- 
acted, although  many  other  states  have  adopted  restrictive 
legislation  of  this  nature.  Indeed  such  legislation  as  has  been 
enacted  is  on  the  whole  favorable  to  railway  consolidation. 
Not  only  has  the  legislature  not  taken  any  action  toward  the 
prohibiting  of  pooling,  but  the  railroad  and  warehouse  com- 
mission seems  to  have  given  it  little  consideration.  The  atti- 
tude of  the  commissioners,  which  in  all  probability  has  coin- 

1  Revised  Statutes  of  Illinois,  1874,  807-14. 

2  Laws  of  Illinois,  1875,  97-99. 

3  Ibid.,  1879,  223-4. 

4  Ibid.,  1875,  81-2. 

5  Ibid.,  1891,  180-82. 

[266] 


59 

cided  with  that  of  the  legislature,  is  given  in  their  report  for 
1  886  in  which  they  take  the  ground  that  the  enforcement  of  the 
schedule  of  maximum  rates  will  prevent  the  evils  which  might 
arise  from  pooling  contracts  between  roads  lying  within  the 
state,  and  that  the  state  is  powerless  to  regulate  pooling  con- 
tracts between  inter-state  roads.1  Congress  prohibited  pooling 
by  inter-state  roads  in  1887.  In  the  meetings  of  the  general 
assembly  of  the  state  wrhich  followed,  several  bills  were  intro- 
duced aiming  at  the  prohibition  of  pooling,  but  none  was  able 
to  command  a  majority  of  both  houses.2 

Reference  has  already  been  made  to  the  "tax  grabbing" 
and  "Lake  Front"  laws  as  disturbing  elements  in  the  railway 
situation  in  1869.3  The  importance  of  the  workings  of  these 
laws  in  the  later  history  of  the  state  is  sufficient  to  justify  their 
further  consideration.  The  "tax  grabbing"  law,  which,  it  will 
be  remembered,  offered  inducements  to  local  units  to  issue 
bonds  in  aid  of  railroads,  was  passed  with  the  intention  of  rem- 
edying the  inequalities  of  railway  extension  throughout  the 
state.  The  local  bodies  quickly  took  advantage  of  the  law  and 
over  $15,500,000  of  these  bonds  were  issued  by  various  counties, 
townships,  cities  and  towns  and  registered  with  the  state  au- 
ditor.4 In  1871  the  general  assembly  passed  an  act  further  de- 
fining the  method  of  distributing  the  taxes  paid  into  the  state 
treasury  on  the  bond  account  between  the  different  townships, 
cities  and  towns  in  the  same  county  which  had  issued  bonds.5 
In  1874  a  decision  by  the  supreme  court  of  the  state  in  the  case 
of  Ramsey  v.  Hoger  declared  the  law  unconstitutional  on  the 
ground  that  it  interfered  with  the  constitutional  provision 
which  requires  equality  of  taxation  for  state  purposes.  This 
decision  of  the  supreme  court  worked  great  hardship  on  the 
local  units  which,  because  of  the  benefits  which  the  law  held 


1  R.  R.  &  W.  Com.  Report,  1866,  xxi. 

2  See  House  and  Senate  Journals. 

3  Above,  p.  22. 

4  Auditor's  report  in  Reports  of  General  Assembly,  1882,  1:200-207. 

5  Laws  of  Illinois,  1871-72,  192-3. 

(267) 


60 

out  to  them,  had  bonded  themselves  heavily  in  aid  of  the  rail- 
roads. In  many  cases  repudiations  of  their  debts  followed l. 
After  the  decision  was  handed  down  the  state  treasurer  was  un- 
certain as  to  the  status  of  over  $430,000  which  had  come  into 
the  state  treasury  as  a  part  of  the  local  bond  fund.2  To  solve  this 
difficulty,  in  1875,  a  law  was  passed  making  the  state  sole 
trustee  of  all  of  the  excess  over  ||  of  the  state  tax  of  1873,  except 
so  much  as  had  been  carried  to  the  local  bond  fund  and  paid 
out  of  the  treasury  for  the  redemption  of  the  bonds,  and  a 
method  of  refunding  such  excess  was  provided.3  The  excess  of 
7  ff  of  the  state  tax  was  increased  by  the  law  of  1869,  allowing 
the  different  localities  to  devote  part  of  their  state  tax  to  pay- 
ing interest  and  principal  on  their  railway  bonds.  The  pro- 
visions of  this  measure  clearly  showed  the  injustice  of  the  law 
of  1869  as  it  was  made  evident  that  the  state  taxes- were  thereby 
increased  nearly  twenty-five  per  cent.  The  localities  which 
had  not  issued  bonds  were  obliged  to  bear  this  increase,  though 
they  received  no  corresponding  benefits  as  did  the  localities 
which  had  issued  bonds.  The  legislature  from  time  to  time  dis- 
cusssed  the  matter  of  relieving  the  embarrassing  possition  in 
which  the  localities  which  had  issued  bonds  were  placed  by  the 
abrogation  of  the  law,  but  no  action  was  taken.4 

A  repetition  of  the  evils  due  to  the  unlimited  issue  of  rail- 
way aid  bonds  was  made  impossible  by  the  constitution  of  1870. 
One  of  the  sections  which  was  submitted  to  the  people  for  sepa- 
rate vote  and  which  was  endorsed  by  them  provided  that  "no 
county,  city,  town,  township  or  other  municipality  shall  ever 
become  subscriber  to  the  capital  stock  of  any  railroad  or  private 
corporation  or  make  donations  to  or  loan  its  credit  in  aid  of 
such  corporation".  Provision  was,  however,  made  for  the  is- 
suance of  aid  already  voted.  A  law  of  1874  prohibited  the  is- 
suance after  1877  of  bonds  which  had  been  voted  before  1870 

1  76  in.  432. 

2  Davidson  and  Stuve",  935,  note. 

3  Reports  of  the  general  assembly,  1875. 

4  Davidson  and  Stuv£,  op,  cit.  935;  House  and  Senate  Journals. 

(268) 


61 

and  not  yet  issued.1  In  1877  the  liability  for  the  issuance  of 
bonds  voted  was  extended  to  18802,  and  a  law  of  1883  finally 
decided  against  any  further  issuance  after  that  year  except 
under  certain  conditions.3 

The  "Lake  Front"  act  proved  to  be  equally  as  disturbing 
an  element  as  the  "tax  grabbing"  law,  but  its  influence  was  felt 
in  Chicago  alone,  while  the  evils  of  the  "tax  grabbing"  law  were 
felt  throughout  the  state.  The  act  became  the  basis  of  a  strug- 
gle in  the  courts  which  lasted  for  twenty  years.  On  petition 
made  within  four  months  after  the  passage  of  the  act,  the 
United  States  circuit  court  issued  an  injunction  restraining  the 
city  of  Chicago  from  releasing  and  the  railway  companies  from 
occupying  the  land  granted  for  depot  purposes.  The  record  of 
this  proceeding  was  destroyed  in  the  great  Chicago  fire  of  1871 
and  was  never  fully  restored.4  The  opposition  to  the  act  was 
so  determined  that  in  1873  it  was  repealed.5  The  repeal,  how- 
ever, wTas  of  little  value  in  effecting  a  definite  settlement  of 
the  rights  of  the  respective  parties.  In  1883,  the  attorney-gen- 
eral of  the  state  began  proceedings  in  the  circuit  court  of  Cook 
county  to  quiet  title  and  remove  the  cloud  upon  the  title  of  the 
state  to  the  submerged  lands.  The  case  was  removed  to  the 
United  States  circuit  court  for  the  northern  district  of  Illinois. 
The  Illinois  Central  defended  its  title  by  alleging  the  uncon- 
stitutionally of  the  repealing  act  of  1873  on  the  ground  that  it 
impaired  the  validity  of  contracts  ;  that  it  interfered  with  vested 
rights ;  and  that  it  was  in  violation  of  the  provision  of  the  con- 
stitution of  1870  which  prohibited  the  release  of  impairment  of 
any  tax  imposed  upon  the  Illinois  Central  Railroad.6  The  cir- 
cuit court  held  in  a  decision  handed  down  in  1888  that  the 
effect  of  the  repealing  act  was  to  abrogate  the  cession  of  the 
submerged  lands  to  the  railway  company.  It  was  also  held  by 


I 

Revised  Statutes  of  Illinois,  1874,  797. 

•2. 

Laws  of  Illinois,  1877,  157-8. 

3 

Ibid.,  1883,  122,  3. 

4 

A.  T.  Andreas,  History  of  Chicago,  III: 

92. 

5 

Laws  of  Illinois,  1873-4,  119. 

6 

Andreas,  III:  192. 

(269) 

62 

the  court  that  the  return  to  the  railway  companies,  at  their  re- 
quest, by  the  comptroller  of  Chicago,  of  the  money  deposited 
by  them  as  the  first  installment  to  be  paid  to  the  city  for  the 
land  for  depot  purposes  had  deprived  them  of  the  benefit  which 
had  accrued  to  them  from  the  tender  and  the  repeal  of  the  act 
accordingly  left  the  title  in  the  city  of  Chicago.1  The  circuit 
court  further  confirmed  the  title  of  the  road  to  the  piers  and 
docks  then  built  out  into  the  lake  so  far  as  they  did  not  extend 
beyond  the  point  of  practical  navigability,  but  perpetually  en- 
joined the  company  from  erecting  further  structures  over  or 
filling  in  the  bed  of  the  lake  between  Chicago  River  and  Six- 
teenth street. 2  The  case  was  appealed  and  was  tried  at  the 
October  term,  1892,  of  the  Supreme  court  of  the  United  States. 
The  decision  of  the  lower  court  was  sustained,  a  majority  of 
the  court  holding,  with  regard  to  the  act  of  1869  and  its  repeal, 
that  "it  was  not  competent  for  the  legislature  to  thus  deprive 
the  state  of  its  ownership  of  the  submerged  lands  in  the  harbor 
of  Chicago,  and  of  the  consequent  control  of  its  waters ;  and 
the  attempted  session  of  the  act  of  April  16,  1869,  was  inopera- 
tive to  affect,  modify,  or  in  any  respect  to  control  the  sover- 
eignty and  dominion  of  the  state  over  the  lands,  or  its  owner- 
ship thereof,  and  any  such  attempted  operation  of  the  act  was 
annulled  by  the  repealing  act  of  April  15,  1873,  which  to  that 
extent  was  valid  and  effective". 3  The  claim  to  the  land  grant- 
ed for  depot  purposes  was  not  revived  by  the  railway  company. 
In  another  attempt  made  recently  by  the  Illinois  Central  to  se- 
cure title  under  its  charter  to  submerged  land  recovered  by  it, 
the  superior  court  of  Cook  county  held  that  the  company  had 
no  right  under  the  charter  to  take  possession  of  land  submerged 
beneath  Lake  Michigan.  In  this  decision,  the  court  was  sus- 
tained by  the  Supreme  court  of  Illinois  in  1899*  and  by  the 


1  Moses,  op.  cit.  II ;  782-3. 

2  184  U.  S.  87. 

3  146  U.  S.,  387. 

4  173  111.  471. 

(270) 


63 

Supreme  court  of  the  United  States  in  1900 l.  Appeal  was  taken 
to  the  state  to  the  decision  of  the  circuit  court  in  1888  as  to 
the  right  of  the  railway  company  to  the  piers  built  out  into  the 
lake  but  the  decision  was  affirmed  by  the  circuit  court  of  ap- 
peals in  1899  *  and  by  the  Supreme  court  of  the  United  States 
in  1902 3  Here  the  matter  rests  for  the  present,  and  the  decis- 
ion of  the  Supreme  court  seems  to  be  regarded  as  a  final  settle- 
ment of  the  long  controversy. 


1  176  U.  S.  646. 

2  91  Federal  Reporter,  955. 

3  184  U.S.  77- 

(271) 


SECTION  VIII. 


RAILWAY  CONSTRUCTION  AND  CONSOLIDATION. 


In  1870  Illinois  [had  4,82s1  miles  of  railroad  within  her 
boundaries.  In  the  thirty  years  since  that  date  the  railway 
mileage  of  the  state  has  more  than  doubled,  the  mileage  for 
1892  being  11,031 2.  The  increase  in  railway  construction  has 
not  been  uniform  throughout  this  period,  but  there  have  been 
two  distinct  periods  of  rapid  construction.  The  first  of  these 
periods  beginning  with  1870  extends  to  about  1876.  In  the  five 
years  from  June  30,  1871,  to  June  30,  1876,  the  railway  mile- 
age increased  2,736  miles,  an  average  of  547  miles  a  year3.  The 
rapid  extension  of  the  railroads  during  this  period  was  probably 
due  in  great  measure  to  the  aid  to  railway  construction  which 
was  being  granted  through  local  aid  bonds.  For  three  years 
there  was  somewhat  of  a  lull  in  railway  building,  but  in  1879  a 
second  period  of  rapid  extension  began  during  which,  however t 
the  building  of  new  lines  of  road  was  not  carried  on  so  rapidly 
as  it  had  been  in  the  earlier  period.  In  the  nine  years  from 
June  30,  1879,  to  June  30,  1888,  the  number  of  miles  of  railroad 
in  the  state  increased  from  7559 4  to  9918s,  an  increase  of  2,359 
miles  in  the  nine  years.  The  year  of  greatest  increase  during  this 
period  was  1883-84,  when  375  miles  of  road  were  built 6.  This 
was  a  period  of  much  more  rational  development  than  was  the 
earlier  one.  The  extension  of  the  railroads  was  in  the  main 
due  to  an  increased  need  for  railway  service  and  not  to  an  ar- 

1  Poor,  Manual,  1871-72,  xxxiii. 

2  R.  R.  &  W.  Com.  Report,  1902,  92. 

3  Ibid.,  1871-76. 

4  Ibid.,  1879,  viii. 

5  Ibid.,  1888,  xxviii,  xxix. 

6  Ibid.,  1879-88. 

(272) 


65 

tificial  stimulus  such  as  was  furnished  by  the  railway  aid 
bonds.  In  the  fifteen  years  succeeding  1888  only  1,100  miles 
of  road  have  been  built.  It  is,  therefore,  fair  to  assume  that 
Illinois  had  by  1888  reached  a  state  of  equilibrium  in  which 
railway  development  would  keep  pace  with  the  slow  but  steady 
increase  of  industrial  development. 

Notwithstanding  the  fact  that  the  increase  in  mileage  in 
Illinois  has  been  great,  it  by  no  means  represents  the  full  in- 
crease in  the  usefulness  of  the  railroads  which  has  come  about 
in  the  same  time.  The  improvements  which  have  been  intro- 
duced during  the  past  thirty-three  years  have  brought  to  the 
roads  an  increase  in  efficiency  which  is  several  times  as  great 
as  the  increase  in  mileage.  In  1871,  of  the  5,490  miles  of  track 
in  Illinois,  more  than  ninety  per  cent,  was  laid  with  iron  rails 
weighing  from  thirty  to  fifty-six  pounds  to  the  yard1;  by  1902 
ninety-nine  and  four-tenths  per  cent.2  of  the  mileage  of  the 
roads  was  laid  with  steel  rails  weighing  from  thirty-five  to  one 
hundred  pounds  to  the  yard.  In  1871  the  road  way  was  bal- 
lasted only  in  those  places  where  trouble  was  caused  during 
the  wet  season1;  in  1902  eighty-five  per  cent,  of  the  mileage 
was  ballasted2.  In  1875,  in  the  7,100  miles  of  road  in  the  state, 
there  were  fifteen  stone  arch  bridges3,  but  in  1902,  with  only 
an  increase  of  about  fifty  per  cent,  in  the  mileage,  there  were  in 
use  444  masonry  bridges  and  2156  iron  and  steel  bridges4.  In 
1870,  there  were  99|  miles  of  double  main  track  in  the  state 5, 
or  about  1-60  as  many  miles  of  double  as  of  single  track;  in 
1902,  the  number  of  miles  of  second,  third,  fourth  and  addi- 
tional main  tracks  was  1,827 6,  about  1-6  the  mileage  of  the  sin- 
gle main  track.  In  1870  also  the  protection  of  a  crossing  by 
an  interlocking  switching  device  was  unknown,  but  by  1902, 

I  R.  R.  &  W.  Com.  Report,  1895,  xi. 

i  Ibid.,  1902,  179. 

3  Ibid.,  1895,  4. 

4  Ibid.,  1902,  183. 

5  Ibid.,  1871,  Table  "  H." 

6  Ibid.,  1902,  79. 

(273) 


66 

there  were  246  of  such  devices  in  use.1  These  merely  illustrate 
the  many  improvements  that  have  been  introduced.  In  ad- 
dition, block  signalling  systems  have  been  put  into  operation, 
curves  and  grades  have  been  reduced,  tracks  have  been  elevated 
and  many  changes  of  like  benefit  have  been  effected.  Follow- 
ing the  direction  of  the  improvements  which  have  been  men- 
tioned, and  largely  as  a  result  of  them,  have  come  changes  in 
the  transportation  of  passengers  and  freight  which  have  revo- 
lutionized the  railway  industry.  The  size  and  power  of  the 
engines  and  the  capacity  of  the  cars  have  been  increased,  longer 
trains  have  come  into  use  and  a  much  higher  rate  of  speed  has 
been  attained  by  both  passenger  and  freight  trains. 

The  influence  of  these  changes  on  Illinois  has  been  great. 
It  is  not  confined  to  the  mere  fact  that  they  have  secured  an 
increased  efficiency  for  the  roads  of  the  state.  With  the  im- 
provements which  have  been  introduced  has  come  a  reduction 
in  the  rates  which  would  have  been  almost  impossible  without 
them.  This  reduction  in  rates  has  caused  a  great  extension 
in  the  market  for  the  grain  of  Illinois  and  of  the  Northwest, 
and  an  increased  demand  has  followed  as  an  inevitable  result. 
The  extension  of  the  market  caused  by  the  reduction  in  rates 
has  made  it  possible  for  the  states  of  the  West  and  Northwest 
to  supplant  Illinois  in  the  production  of  wheat  and  the  farmers 
of  the  state  have  consequently  been  forced  to  turn  from  wheat- 
raising  to  corn-raising  which  the  reduced  rates  made  a  much 
more  profitable  industry  than  it  had  previously  been.  This 
change  has  in  the  end  probably  proved  of  greater  benefit  to  the 
agricultural  interests  of  the  state.2 

Two  other  results  of  importance  in  the  railway  situation 
in  Illinois  have  ensued.  The  extended  markets  for  the  com- 

1  R.  R.  &  W.  Com.  Report,  1901,  ix. 

2  In  1869  Illinois  ranked  as  the  first  wheat  producing  state  in  the  union  with  a 
production  of  30,128,405  bushels;  by  1899,  this  production  had  decreased  1019,795,500 
bushels  and  the  state  was  fourteenth  in  amount  of  wheat  produced.     The  production 
of  corn  during  the  same  year  increased  from  129,921,395  bushels  to  398,149,140  bushels, 
Illinois  ranking  first  in  both  years.     Census  1000,  vol.  VI,  Part  II,  pp.  80,  93. 

[274] 


67 

modities  of  the  Northwest  has  created  the  need  for  extended 
railroad  facilities  to  transport  them  across  the  state,  and  the 
world  market  which  has  been  thrown  open  to  Illinois  commod- 
ities has  led  to  an  enlarged  prosperity  and  at  the  same  time 
to  an  increased  dependence  by  the  people  of  the  state  on  the 
welfare  of  the  railway  system.  Railways  have  thus  become  of 
transcendent  importance  to  the  well  being  of  the  state  not  only 
through  the  extension  that  has  been  made  in  the  lines  them- 
selves, but  also  through  the  changed  conditions  that  have  been 
brought  about  by  the  improvements  in  the  management  of 
the  transportation  industry. 

There  is  a  second  feature  which  has  marked  the  develop- 
ment of  the  railway  industry  in  Illinois  and  which  has  had  an 
equal  importance  with  the  changes  in  railway  construction  and 
equipment  in  securing  a  better  service  to  the  people  of  the  state. 
This  feature  of  railway  development  is  the  growth  of  railway 
consolidation.  In  this  process  the  two  distinct  lines  along 
which  consolidation  has  progressed  in  the  United  States  at 
large 1  have  been  evident  in  Illinois.  During  the  earlier  part 
of  the  period  under  consideration,  consolidation  was  chiefly 
effected  by  the  union  of  short  connecting  lines.  In  the  latter 
part  of  the  period,  the  chief  method  by  which  consolidation  has 
been  brought  about  has  been  the  purchasing  or  leasing  of  a  mi- 
nor road  by  one  of  the  great  railway  systems. 

On  June  30,  1871,  the  average  number  of  miles  of  road  in 
Illinois  operated  by  the  different  companies  was  263. 2  By  1875, 
the  average  had  decreased  to  142, 3  and  from  that  time  until 
1900  it  had  not  varied  much,  the  average  for  1900  being  161 
miles.4  From  these  figures  it  might  seem  that  there  had  been 
no  tendency  toward  railway  consolidation  in  Illinois,  but  there 
had  been  a  movement  toward  short  lines  of  road.  The  error 
lies,  however,  in  taking  the  number  of  miles  owned  in  Illinois 

1  Newcomb,  "Railway  Economics",  120-1. 

2  R.  R.  &  W.  Com.     Report,  1871,  Appendix  "H",  II. 

3  Ibid.,  1875,  300-1. 

4  Ibid.,  1900,  Lxxxii-Lxxxvi. 

[275] 


68 

the  various  companies  operating  in  the  state  as  a  basis  for  es- 
timating the  amount  of  consolidation  that  has  taken  place.  The 
true  basis  for  the  estimate  is  the  whole  number  of  miles  owned 
by  the  roads  rather  than  that  part  which  lies  within  the  state. 
The  significant  fact  for  our  consideration  is  that  the  roads  of 
the  state  have  become  parts  of  great  railway  systems.  The  fol- 
lowing table1  shows  the  progress  of  consolidation  as  far  as  it 
can  be  traced  statistically.  It  does  not  include  consolidations 
which  have  been  effected  without  any  change  in  the  operating 
organizations.  The  mileage  given  is  the  total  mileage  of  all 
roads  which  operate  with  in  the  state. 

It  will  be  seen  from  the  table  that  there  has  been  a  great 
increase  in  the  number  of  roads  in  the  state  which  are  parts  of 
great  railway  systems.  In  1871  only  a  little  over  one-half  of 
the  mileage  of  the  state  represented  part  of  a  railroad  over  six 
hundred  miles  long  and  the  length  of  the  longest  road  which 
had  any  mileage  in  the  state  was  1,224  miles. 2  By  1900,  eighty- 
nine  per  cent  of  the  mileage  was  part  of  railway  systems  over 
six  hundred  miles  long,  and  one  road  running  through  the  state 
operated  6,410  miles  of  line. 

This  consolidation,  the  extent  of  which  is  shown  by  the 
table,  has  secured  two  benefits  to  the  travelling  and  shipping 
public.  Better  service  has  been  secured  than  would  have  been 
possible  if  it  had  remained  necessary  for  each  shipment  to  tra- 
verse several  different  lines.  Consolidation  has  also  made  pos- 
sible lower  rates  on  account  of  the  reduction  in  operating  ex- 
penses which  has  been  secured  by  the  bringing  of  several  roads 
under  one  management. 4 

It  will  be  seen  that  the  railway  system  of  Illinois  has  not 
only  grown  enormously  since  1870,  but  its  usefulness  has  also 
been  increased  by  the  introduction  of  improvements  and  through 
the  consolidations  which  have  taken  place.  As  a  result  of  these 

1  The  table  is  adopted  from  the  one  in  the   Reports  of   the  Statistician  of  the 
Interstate  Commerce  Commission.     (See  next  page). 

2  The  Chicago  and  Northwestern  Railway  Company. 

3  The  Chicago,  Milwaukee  and  St.  Paul  Railway  Company. 

4  Newcomb,    op.  ctt.,  122. 

[276] 


69 


changes,  lower  rates  have  ensued.  There  has,  therefore,  been 
an  increase  in  efficiency  far  greater  than  would  be  indicated  by 
the  mere  increase  in  mileage. 


ITEMS. 

Mileage 
over  600 

Mileage 
from 
300-600 

Mileage 
from 
100-300 

{Mileage 
under 
100 

Total 

1871 
Number  of  roads     

4 

3 

7 

3 

17 

Aggregate  mileage  in  class  

3661 

1448 

1368 

133 

6610 

Per  cent,  of  total  mileage  

55 

22 

21 

2 

100 

1875 
Number  of  roads  

9 

5 

12 

24 

50 

Aggregate  mileage  in  class  

9309 

2313 

2312 

1178 

15112 

Per  cent,  of  total  mileage  

62 

15 

15 

8 

100 

1880 
Number  of  Roads  

9 

6 

16 

17 

48 

Aggregate  mileage  in  class  

13859 

2362 

2923 

775 

19919 

Per  cent,  of  total  mileage  

69 

12 

15 

4 

100 

1885 
Number  of  roads  

11 

10 

17 

19 

57 

Aggregate  mileage  in  class  

22234 

4317 

3396 

719 

30606 

Per  cent  of  total  mileage  

73 

14 

11 

2 

100 

1890 
Number  of  roads  

14 

13 

16 

20 

63 

Aggregate  mileage  in  class        

36826 

5737 

3128 

676 

40367 

Per  cent,  of  total  mileage  

76 

14 

11 

2 

100 

1895 
Number  of  roads  

14 

12 

14 

27 

67 

Aggregate  mileage  in  class  

35008 

5149 

2617 

817 

43591 

Per  cent,  of  total  mileage  

80 

12 

6 

2 

100 

1900 
Number  of  roads         

21 

7 

13 

27 

68 

Aggregate  mileage  in  class  

50810 

2914 

2565 

805 

57094 

Per  cent,  of  total  mileage  

89 

5 

5 

1 

100 

In  connection  with  this  increase  in  the  efficiency  and  mile- 
age of  the  steam  railroads  must  be  noted  the  growth  of  interur- 
ban  electric  railways.  In  1899  when  the  reports  of  the  electric 
roads  were  for  the  first  time  compiled  separately  by  the  com- 
mission, the  total  mileage  of  elevated  and  interurban  electric 
lines  reporting  was  97.06.  (Report  1899,  III.)  This  mileage 
more  than  tripled  in  the  following  three  years  aggregating  in 
1902,352.35  miles.  (Report  1902,  8.)  This  movement  which 

[277] 


70 

is  yet  in  its  infancy  bids  fair  to  become  a  factor  of  great  import- 
ance in  the  transportation  interests  of  the  state.  It  is  yet  too 
early  to  determine  whether  the  electric  interurban  lines  will 
seriously  decrease  the  earnings  of  the  steam  railroads  by  their 
competition  in  the  local  passenger  traffic  or  whether  by  serving 
as  "friends"  to  the  steam  roads,  they  may  not  actually  prove  of 
benefit  to  them.  However  this  may  be  it  is  certain  that  by 
the  extension  of  passenger  freight  and  express  facilities  into 
the  heart  of  rural  districts,  a  benefit  of  inestimable  value  will 
be  conferred  upon  much  territory  which  must  otherwise  be 
practically  devoid  of  easily  accessible  means  of  communication. 


[278 


SECTION  IX. 
LATER  WORK  OF  THE  COMMISSION. 


By  1880,  as  we  have  seen,  the  authority  of  the  commission 
and  the  validity  of  the  restrictive  legislation  were  firmly  estab- 
lished by  the  courts.  The  commission  has  consequently  since 
that  time  been  able  to  carry  on  its  work  without  being  ham- 
pered by  delays  in  litigation.  During  this  later  period,  as  in 
the  earlier  one,  the  fixing  of  maximum  rates  has  occupied  a 
prominent  place  in  the  work  of  the  commission.  The  first 
schedule  of  maximum  rates  went  into  effect  in  1874.  By  1881, 
a  feeling  that  a  change  in  the  conditions  since  that  time  had 
made  necessary  a  new  schedule  caused  the  general  assembly  to 
adopt  a  joint  resolution  requesting  the  commission  to  revise 
the  schedule. l  In  response  to  this  request,  the  first  general  re- 
vision of  the  schedule  of  maximum  rates  was  made.  For  the 
purpose  of  the  schedule,  two  classes  of  roads  were  made  in- 
stead of  the  five  classes  into  which  they  were  divided  for  the 
schedule  of  1874.  The  commissioners  made  no  definite  state- 
ment as  to  the  basis  of  classification,  but  a  general  estimate  of 
the  prosperity  of  the  roads  seemed  to  be  the  controlling  consid- 
eration. The  maximum  passenger  rate  was  fixed  at  three  cents 
a  mile  for  the  roads  of  both  classes.  The  freight  rates  of  the 
schedule  of  1881  were  from  twenty  to  thirty  per  cent,  lower 
than  the  rates  of  the  schedule  of  1873,  and  according  to  the 
commissioners,  from  twenty-five  to  thirty-three  per  cent,  lower 
than  the- rates  in  the  adjoining  states  of  Wisconsin  and  Missouri 
where  the  rates  were  fixed  by  legislation.2  The  reduction  in 
the  rates  of  this  schedule  as  compared  with  those  of  the  previ- 
ous one  corresponded  closely  with  the  actual  reduction  in  rates 

1.  Senate  Journal,  1881,  845. 

2.  R.  R.  &  W.  Com.     Report,  1881,  15-18. 

[279] 


72 

which  had  taken  place  throughout  the  country  during  the  pe- 
riod.1 

The  rates  which  were  adopted  by  the  schedule  of  1881 
proved  satisfactory  to  the  managers  of  the  different  roads,  and 
they  signified  a  general  willingness  to  conform  their  charges  to 
schedule  rates.2  Since  1881,  changes  in  the  schedules  have 
been  made  almost  every  year  .  These  changes  have  taken  place 
chiefly  through  variations  in  the  classification  of  freight.  The 
last  general  revision  of  the  schedules  under  which  the  roads  are 
working  at  the  present  time  went  into  effect  January  1,  1900. 
By  it  the  uniform  maximum  passenger  rate  of  three  cents  a 
mile  is  retained.  Freight  is  divided  into  ten  classes,  and  in  ad- 
dition to  these,  special  rates  are  made  for  (1 )  horses  and  mules, 
(2)  cattle,  (3)  hogs,  (4)  sheep,  (5)  wheat,  (6)  grain  except 
wheat,  (7)  lumber,  (8)  salt,  and  (9)  coal.3 

The  hearing  and  adjusting  of  complaints  has  proved  one  of 
the  most  important  duties  of  the  commission  during  the  latter 
period.  The  policy  of  arbitrating  complaints  was  undertaken 
in  1878,  while  the  constitutionality  of  the  law  of  1873  was  still 
undecided.4  This  policy  proved  to  be  very  satisfactory  in  prac- 
tice, and,  although  undertaken  as  a  temporary  measure,  was 
continued  as  a  permanent  policy.  In  1893,  the  commission 
adopted  rules  of  practice  to  govern  the  method  of  trial  of  com- 
plaints brought  before  it  for  its  adjustment. 5  In  most  cases  the 
railroads  have  shown  a  willingness  to  comply  with  the  decisions 
of  the  commission,  and  as  a  result  disagreements  between  the 
shippers  and  the  roads  have  had  a  speedy  settlement  without 
resort  to  the  courts.  This  has  meant  a  considerable  saving  of 
time  and  expense  and  has  brought  each  party  to  a  clearer  under- 
standing of  the  rights  of  the  other.  The  complaints  to  the  com- 
mission arise  from  many  different  causes.  Of  these  causes  dis- 
crimination and  extortion  are  probably  the  most  important, 

1  Hadley,  104. 

2  R.  R.  &  W.  Com.  Report,  1882,  xvi. 

3  Ibid.,  Schedule  of  rates. 

4  Ibid.,  Report,  1878,  xvii,  xviii. 

5  Ibid.,  1893,  6.  153-59. 

[280] 


73 

and  the  adjusting  of  complaints  arising  from  these  two  sources 
has  been  productive  of  great  benefit.  Since  the  passage  in  1891 
of  the  act  providing  for  the  determination  by  the  commission 
of  the  necessity  for  the  location  of  interlocking  switches  at  rail- 
way crossings,  action  on  petitions  for  the  location  of  such 
switches  has  been  one  of  the  important  functions  of  the  com- 
mission. In  1878,  the  commission  commenced  the  practice  of 
inspecting  the  roads  of  the  state.1  This  additional  duty  which 
has  been  assumed  by  succeeding  commissions  has  greatly  in- 
creased their  usefulness.  When  the  physical  condition  of  the 
road  or  the  equipment  is  deemed  insufficient  for  the  safety  of 
the  public,  an  order  for  the  improvement  of  the  deficiency  is 
issued  by  the  commission  to  the  railway  company.  In  this  res- 
pect, also,  the  companies  have  exhibited  a  willingness  to  obey 
the  orders  of  the  commission,  and  the  roads  have  thus  been 
kept  in  a  sound  physical  condition. 

The  conferences  which  the  commissions  of  the  different 
states  have  held  furnishes  another  feature  of  the  work  of  the 
Illinois  commission  which  is  worthy  of  mention  on  account  of 
the  beneficial  results  in  the  way  of  railway  regulation  which 
may  be  secured  in  this  way.  The  first  national  convention  of 
state  railway  commissioners  was  held  at  Springfield  in  1875. 
Succeeding  conventions  were  held  in  1878,  1879  and  1881.  After 
1881  this  first  movement  for  the  conference  of  state  commissions 
came  to  an  end.  In  1889  the  movement  was  revived  by  the 
Interstate  Commerce  Commission.  An  invitation  was  extended 
by  this  body  to  all  of  the  state  commissions  to  attend  a  confer- 
ence. The  invitation  was  accepted,  and  beginning  with  1889, 
the  commissions  of  the  various  states,  together  with  the  Inter- 
state Conunerce  Commission  and  representatives  of  the  rail- 
roads have  met  in  annual  conference.  The  questions  which 
have  been  discussed  at  the  conferences  are  especially  those 
features  of  railway  regulation  which  require  uniform  action  by 
the  state  and  federal  governments.  Classification  and  railway 

1  R.  R.  &  W.  Com.  Report,  1878,  xviii. 

2  Ibid.,  1879,  247-59. 

[281] 


74 

accounting,  for  instance,  matters  in  which  uniformity  is  espec- 
ially desirable,  have  been  given  particular  attention.  Although 
the  practical  results  of  these  conferences  have  not  been  import- 
ant, they  furnish  on  the  whole  a  good  medium  through  which 
the  incongruities  in  the  railway  legislation  of  the  different 
states  can  be  revealed  and  state  regulation  made  more  effective 
by  securing  a  greater  degree  of  uniformity  in  the  methods  em- 
ployed by  the  different  sovereignties. 


[282] 


SECTION  X. 

CONCLUSION. 

For  thirty  years  Illinois  has  endeavored  to  control  her  rail- 
roads by  means  of  the  strong  commission.  It  cannot  be  claimed 
that  complete  success  has  been  attained  in  remedying  the  many 
evils,  which  have  been  in  large  measure  due  to  the  unsettled 
condition  of  the  transportation  industry.  But  although  gross 
abuses  have  existed  in  the  past,  and  in  some  instances  still  exist, 
the  work  of  the  commission  has  justified  its  establishment.  It 
is  true  that  its  usefulness  during  the  first  ten  years  of  its  his- 
tory was  greatly  impaired  by  the  struggle  which  it  was  forced 
to  carry  on  in  the  courts,  yet  during  that  period  it  was  by  no 
means  a  useless  body,  if  for  no  other  reason  than  that  it  was 
carrying  on  the  fight  which  must  inevitably  have  arisen  be- 
tween the  railroads- and  the  people  before  the  roads  would  sub- 
mit to  public  control.  By  1880  the  courts  had  finally  estab- 
lished the  validity  of  the  law  under  which  the  commission  was 
working,  and  the  commission  was  left  free  to  carry  out  its  work 
without  hindrance.  But  by  this  time  the  need  for  the  exercise 
of  the  authority  of  the  commission  had  greatly  diminished. 
The  evils  due  to  the  over-development  of  the  roads  were  passing 
away  as  the  population  and  business  of  the  state  increased,  and 
the  abuses  of  rapid  railway  building  were  remedied  as  the  has- 
tily built  roads  were  placed  on  a  sound  basis.  One  of  the  most 
potent  influences  in  securing  the  correction  of  railway  abuses 
was  the  fact  that  the  commission  had  the  unquestioned  power, 
with  the  aid  of  the  courts,  to  force  compliance  with  the  law 
and  with  its  own  decisions.  The  railroads  recognized  this  pow- 
er and  confirmed  their  management  to  the  requirements  of  the 
law.  Thus  the  commission,  without  being  called  upon  to  rem- 
edy actual  abuses,  exercised  a  strong  potential  influence  in  se- 
curing the  correction  of  evils.  This  fact,  notwithstanding  the 
apparent  diminution  in  the  need  for  the  commission  as  railway 

[283] 


76 

conditions  have  changed,  furnishes  an  important  element  in 
the  justification  of  the  continuance  of  the  commission. 

The  schedule  of  maximum  rates  which  the  commission  pre- 
pares is  of  far  less  importance  than  it  was  when  the  first  one 
was  prepared  in  1874.  The  railroads  have  in  a  large  measure 
come  to  a  realization  that  "charging  what  the  traffic  will  not 
bear"  in  the  guise  of  "charging  what  the  traffic  will  bear"  is 
fully  as  detrimental  to  their  interests  as  it  is  to  the  interests 
of  the  public,  and  attempts  at  extortionate  charges  have  been 
largely  abolished.  Further  than  this,  the  competition  between 
points  where  competition  is  possible  serves  to  keep  down  com- 
petitive rates  to  a  reasonable  level,  and  through  the  operation 
of  the  "long  and  short  haul"  clause  of  the  Illinois  law  and  that 
of  the  interstate  commerce  law,  reasonable  rates  between  non- 
competing  points  is  secured, 

But  complaint  has  arisen  from  some  sources  that  the  com- 
mission no  longer  fills  a  positive  place,  but  that  it  has  come  to 
furnish  merely  an  opportunity  for  political  "graft"  at  the  ex- 
pense of  the  state  treasury.  Whatever  truth  there  may  be  in 
such  criticism  of  the  commission  of  today,  it  is  nevertheless 
true  that  it  still  does  a  work  of  positive  value  to  the  state.  The 
general  surveillance  which  the  commission  exercises  over  the 
state  still  further  justifies  its  existence  and  continuance.  It 
furnishes  a  permanent  body  to  which  the  legislature  can  assign 
the  execution  of  matters  connected  with  the  railroads  ;  it  ex- 
ercises a  general  supervision  over  the  physical  condition  of  the 
roads  of  the  state ;  it  collects  and  presents  to  the  public  statis- 
tics in  regard  to  the  financial  condition  and  management  of  the 
roads  ;  it  provides  the  only  competent  body  to  study  the  rail- 
way situation  and  to  recommend  to  the  legislature  measures 
which  would  be  of  benefit  both  to  railroads  and  to  the  people; 
and,  finally,  it  furnishes  the  most  convenient  means  by  which 
the  state  can  keep  in  touch  with  the  work  of  the  federal  gov- 
ernment and  the  other  states,  and  thus  make  possible  that 
united  action  on  the  part  of  the  different  sovereignties  which 
is  essential  to  effective  control. 

[284] 


77 

Although  the  work  of  the  commission  has  thus  been  of 
great  benefit  to  the  state,  a  few  changes  in  the  law  might  great- 
ly increase  its  efficiency.  The  law  establishing  the  commission 
provides  for  the  appointment  of  all  three  members  of  the  board 
at  one  time  for  a  term  of  two  years.  Although  the  disadvant- 
age of  the  short  term  has  been  in  some  measure  counteracted 
by  the  general  practice  of  retaining  the  same  commissioners  in 
office  during  the  four  year  term  of  the  governor,  the  efficiency 
of  the  commission  is  lessened  by  the  fact  that  all  the  mem- 
bers of  the  board  retire  at  the  same  time  and  their  duties  must 
be  taken  up  by  men  unfamiliar  with  the  workings  of  the  office. 
This  defect  could  be  easily  remedied  by  a  plan  which  the  com- 
mission proposes, ]  in  accordance  with  which  the  term  of  office 
of  the  commissioners  would  be  extended  to  six  years  and  one 
member  of  the  board  would  retire  every  two  years.  There 
would  then  be  only  one  new  man  on  the  board  after  each  change. 
The  usefulness  of  the  commission  could  be  further  increased  if 
the  power  which  it  now  exercises  over  railroads  should  be  ex- 
tended to  include  sleeping-car  and  express  companies. z  These 
businesses  are  analogous  to  the  railway  business  and  are  sub- 
ject to  many  similar  evils.  To  this  power  should  be  added 
also  the  authority  of  the  commission  to  require  reports  of  the 
same  character  as  the  reports  of  the  railway  companies  from 
telegraph  and  telephone  companies  and  from  street  railway 
companies.  The  commission  should  also  be  given  the  power  to 
decide  in  regard  to  the  equipment  of  crossings  of  street  rail- 
ways and  steam  railroads  with  interlocking  devices. 3  This  last 
power  the  commission  claims,  but  its  right  to  exercise  it  is  ques- 
tioned.* 

There  has  been  in  the  past  a  considerable  waste  of  capital 
through  the  building  of  roads  which  paralleled  existing  lines  of 

1.  R.  R.  &  W.  Com.     Report,  1880,  9. 

2.  The   interstate  commerce  commission   has  recommended  that  its  power  be 
extended  in  this  way. 

3.  R.  R.  &  W.  Com.     Report,  1898,  xii-xiii. 

4.  Ibid.,  xii. 

[285] 


78 

road  or  which  were  built  where  the  business  was  not  sufficient 
to  justify  their  construction.  With  the  disappearance  of  the 
idea  that  competition  of  different  lines  would  secure  benefits 
to  the  public,  should  come  some  method  for  restraining  the 
building  of  unnecessary  roads.  Under  the  present  general  in- 
corporation law,  any  number  of  persons  not  less  than  five  may 
become  incorporated  for  the  purpose  of  constructing  and  oper- 
ating a  railroad.  Under  this  law  more  than  nine  hundred 
franchises  for  the  construction  of  new  railroads  have  been  is- 
sued.1 Although  many  of  the  roads  thus  chartered  have  not 
been  built,  a  need  exists  for  some  positive  means  of  control- 
ling the  unlimited  granting  of  railway  franchises  and  the  build- 
ing of  unnecessary  roads.  It  is  doubtless  true  that  much  great- 
er evil  has  arisen  from  this  latter  cause  in  the  past  than  is  to 
be  expected  in  the  future,  but  the  securing  of  franchises  for 
purely  speculative  purposes  is  as  pronounced  an  evil  at  the 
present  time  as  it  has  been  in  the  past.  Beneficial  results 
could  be  secured  by  a  law  requiring  a  proper  certificate  to  be 
obtained  from  the  railway  commission  before  articles  of  incor- 
poration are  granted  for  the  construction  of  any  new  railroad 
in  the  state. 

There  is  opportunity  for  increasing  the  usefulness  of  the 
commission  in  the  matter  of  securing  uniformity  of  railway 
accounts.  As  the  law  now  stands,  the  only  restriction  placed 
upon  the  keeping  of  their  accounts  in  any  way  which  the  roads 
see  fit  lies  in  the  fact  that  on  certain  particulars,  specified  in 
•the  law  of  1871,  the  roads  are  required  to  make  a  report  to  the 
commission.  Uniformity  in  railway  accounting  is  eminently 
desirable,  and  if  the  method  of  accounting  is  to  be  prescribed, 
the  commission  should  be  delegated  with  the  power  of  prescrib- 
ing it.  Action  along  this  line  would,  however,  be  of  little  value 
until  the  initiative  is  taken  by  the  federal  government  in  giv- 
ing the  Interstate  Commerce  Commission  power  to  prescribe 
uniform  methods  of  accounting  for  interstate  roads.  Should 

!.     R.  R.  &  W.  Com.     Report,  1895,  xix. 

[286] 


79 

this  action  be  taken  by  the  federal  government,  the  states  hav- 
ing railway  commissions  should  confer  upon  them  the  power 
to  prescribe  the  form  in  which  the  railroads  within  the  state 
shall  keep  their  accounts. 

In  general  the  legislation  which  has  been  adopted  by  Illi- 
nois since  1870  with  regard  to  the  railroads  has  promoted  a  har- 
monious development  of  the  transportation  industry  in  the 
state.  A  due  regard  has  been  paid  to  the  rights  of  the  people 
but  in  most  cases  in  protecting  public  interests,  the  legislature 
has  not  worked  injustice  to  the  roads.  During  the  period  of 
thirty  years  over  which  the  legislation  under  our  consideration 
has  extended,  the  legislature  of  the  state  has  many  times  been, 
forced  to  the  front  in  seeking  a  solution  of  the  railway  problems 
which  were  characteristic  of  the  development  of  the  roads  in 
the  West.  The  successful  dealing  with  these  problems  has  se- 
cured for  Illinois  a  condition  of  railway  development  and  effi- 
ciency which  justly  entitles  her  to  the  rank  of  the  first  railway 
state  in  the  Union. 


ADAMS,  C.  F. 

Railroads,  Their  Origin  and  Problems.     New  York.     1886. 


The  Granger  Movement.  North  American  Review,  CXX:  394-424,  Boston,  1875. 
ANDREAS,  A.  T. 

History  of  Chicago.     Chicago.     1886. 
CLARK,  F.  C. 

State  Railroads  Commissions  and  How  They  May  Be  Made  Effective.     Publica- 
tions of  the  American  Economic  Association.  VI :  473-582.  Baltimore,  1891 . 
DAVIDSON  &  STUVE. 

History  of  Illinois.     Springfield,  1884. 

Debates  of  the  (Illinois)  Constitutional  Convention  of  1870.     Springfield. 
DIXON,  F.  H. 

State  Railroad  Control,  with  a  History  of  its  Development  in  Iowa.     New  York, 

1896. 
HADLEY,  A.  T. 

Railroad  Transportation.     New  York,  1886. 
HENDRICK,  F. 

Railway  Control  by  Commissions.     New  York.     1900. 
Illinois  House  Journal.     Springfield. 
Illinois  Senate  Journal.     Springfield. 
Illinois  Supreme  Court  Reports.     Springfield. 
LANGSTROTH  &  STILZ. 

Railway  Cooperation.     Publications  of  the  University  of  Pennsylvania.     Series 

in  Political  Economy  and  Public  Law.     No.  15,  Philadelphia,  1899. 
Laws  of  Illinois.     Springfield. 

MclNTOSH,   A.  T. 

The  Regulation  of  Railroads  by  the  State  of  Illinois.     Manuscript  Thesis  in  the 

Library  of  Northwestern  University.     1900. 
MCLEAN,  S.  J. 

State  Regulation  of  Railways  in  the  United  States.  Economic  Journal,  X:349-369. 

London.     1900. 
MOSES,  JOHN. 

Illinois,  Historical  and  Statistical.     Chicago.     1895. 
NEWCOMB,  H.  T. 

Railway  Economics.     Philadelphia,  1898. 
PAINE,  A.  E. 

The  Granger  Movement  in   Illinois.     Manuscript  Thesis  in  the  Library  of  the 
University  of  Illinois.  1900.   [This  will  be  the  next  number  of  the  Studies.] 

[288] 


81 

PERRY,  E.  R. 

The  Regulation  of  Railroads  by  the  State  of  Illinois.     Manuscript  Thesis  in  the 
Library  of  Northwestern  University.     1900. 

POOR,  H.  V. 

Manual  of  the  Railroads  of  the  United  States.     New  York,  1868. 

The  Prairie  Farmer,  v.44.     Chicago,  1873. 

Proceedings  of  the  Annual  Conferences  of  the  State  Railroad  Commissioners.     Wash- 
ington, 1889— 

Reports  of  the  Railroad  and  Warehouse  Commission,  Illinois.     Springfield,  1871. — 

Reports  of  the  Statistician   of  the  Interstate  Commerce  Commission.     Washington, 
1888.— 

Reports  of  the  General  Assembly  of  Illinois.     Springfield. 

Revised  Statutes  of  Illinois.     Springfield  and  Chicago. 

United  States  Statutes  at  Large.     Washington. 

United  States  Supreme  Court  Reports.     Washington. 


[289] 


NUMBERS  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  STUDIES  PREVIOUSLY 

ISSUED 

Vol.  1.,  No.  1.  Abraham  Lincoln  :  The  Evolution  of  his  Literary  Style.  By  Pro- 
fessor D.  K.  Dodge,  Ph.D. 

No.  2.  The  Decline  of  the  Commerce  of  the  Port  of  New  York.  By  Mr. 
Richard  Price  Morgan. 

No.  ?>.     A  Statistical  Study  of  Illinois  High  Schools.  By  Mr.  F.  G.  Bonser,  M.S. 

No.  4.  The  Genesis  of  the  Grand  Remonstrance  from  Parliament  to  King 
Charles  I.  By  Henry  Lawrence  Schoolcraft,  Ph.D. 

No.  5.  The  Artificial  Method  for  Determining  the  Ease  and  the  Rapidity  of 
the  Digestion  of  Meats.  By  Harry  Sands  Grindley,  Sc.D.,  and 
Timothy  Mojonnier,  M.S. 


UNIVERSITY  OF  ILLINOIS-URBANA 
385G65I  C003 

ILLINOIS  RAILWAY  LEGISLATION  AND  COMMISS 


30112025307957 


